TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Established in 1973 to honor those individuals that have brought lasting fame to the state of Alabama through their business contributions, the Alabama Business Hall of Fame is proud to announce the names of the eight individuals that compose the Class of 2022.
The inductees are Mr. Walter Batson, Jr. of Huntsville; Mr. F. Dixon Brooke, Jr. of Birmingham; Mr. Ronald G. Bruno of Vestavia Hills; Mr. Grayson Hall of Birmingham; Ms. Alexis M. Herman of Washington, D.C.; Mr. Michael Mouron of Birmingham; Mr. William S. Propst, Sr. of Huntsville; and Mr. C. Kemmons Wilson, Jr. of Memphis, TN.
The induction ceremony will take place at Haven in Birmingham on Thursday, Nov. 10.
The Culverhouse College of Business at The University of Alabama is home to the Alabama Business Hall of Fame, located in the College’s Hewson Hall. The College also organizes the annual induction ceremony.
More about the Alabama Business Hall of Fame and ticket and table sponsorship information at culverhouse.ua.edu/abhof.
Walter Batson, Jr.
Walter Batson, Jr. is the co-founder and chairman of the board of InterFuze Corporation, a Huntsville-based firm offering professional and technological products and services to the federal government.
In 1990, Batson co-founded Camber Corporation, which provides technological and programmatic solutions related to defense, aeronautics, and cyberinfrastructure. Through his visionary leadership, Camber Corporation grew from three employees into a diversified company with over 2000 employees and almost $500 million in revenue supporting government clients such as NASA, the United States Department of Defense, and the intelligence community and has expanded its client base to encircle the globe. The company is now in the portfolio of Huntington Ingalls Industries.
Batson’s passionate involvement with the ARC of Madison County — as a former president and current member of the board — is illustrative of his commitment to the greater community. He is also a member of The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College Board of Visitors and a board member of Biztech, which is concerned with supporting small start-ups.
He has a master’s in operations research and bachelor’s degrees in statistics and accounting from The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business.
Dixon Brooke, Jr.
Dixon Brooke, Jr. is the retired CEO and president of EBSCO. The Birmingham-area-based company boasts an array of business lines, including publishing, information services, insurance, manufacturing, real-estate, and outdoor products.
Over his 49-year career, Brooke served EBSCO in a variety of capacities and was president and CEO from 2005 to 2014. The company is ranked in the top three Alabama-based privately held firms. And it gives back: it supports area organizations through monetary contributions and volunteer service via its EBSCO Community Impact initiative. As an avid outdoorsman, Brooke’s interest in conservation has led to EBSCO’s recent work with the Forever Wild Land Trust to preserve from development over 1,600 uniquely situated acres to expand Oak Mountain State Park.
Brooke’s list of business and civic responsibilities is extensive. He is on the board of directors of EBSCO Industries, Synovus Financial Corp, McWane Inc., the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the Alabama Wildlife Federation, and the Boy Scouts of America’s Central Alabama Council. He previously served on the boards of the United Way of Central Alabama, and the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, among other organizations.
He earned his bachelor’s in business administration from Auburn University.
Ronald G. Bruno
Ronald G. Bruno is an accomplished leader in business and philanthropy. He came up through the family business, Bruno’s Supermarkets, Inc., starting as a bagger and then cashier. Eventually, he worked his way through the ranks to being named COO in 1985 and then CEO in the summer of 1991.
In December 1991, tragedy struck when a plane carrying much of the company’s leadership team crashed, killing all passengers, among them his father and uncle. Amidst the loss and grief, Bruno was named chairman. He quickly took the lead, and between 1991 and 1995, the company opened 15 new stores annually and expanded the Nashville and Atlanta markets. KKR approached Bruno’s Supermarkets with an offer to purchase, and the sale was finalized in 1995 for $1.2 billion, the largest sale of an Alabama company to that date.
Bruno then set on a new path as a partner in Bruno Event Team, which is now one of the largest dedicated sports event management companies in the country. He currently serves as President of Bruno Capital Management, a family investment company that he founded.
Throughout his career, Bruno has served on the board of directors for several publicly traded companies, including Bruno’s Inc, Russell Athletic Corporation, Books-A-Million, and SouthTrust Bank. He also serves his community through membership in numerous civic organizations.
He graduated from The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business with a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing.
Grayson Hall
Grayson Hall is the Birmingham-based retired chairman and CEO of Regions Financial Corporation, the state of Alabama’s only Fortune 500 company. He retired from Regions in 2018 after a 38-year career, which started when he joined its predecessor AmSouth Bancorporation as a management trainee. Over time, he served in roles of increasing responsibility and was named president and CEO in 2010, and in 2013, was named chairman. No matter his role, Grayson never lost his focus on the people and communities Regions serves.
Hall’s tenure as CEO began as Regions and its peers across the banking industry were navigating the impacts of the Great Recession. His leadership and vision helped Regions emerge stronger. Hall championed a set of strong core values, a culture built around teamwork and service, and a deliberate focus on creating shared value for customers, communities, associates, and shareholders. The company went from reporting a loss in 2010 to posting strong profits in the years before Hall retired. Regions Bank is now a regional powerhouse with a branch network reaching 15 states and specialty capabilities serving clients nationwide. At the time of Hall’s retirement, it had a $7.6 billion impact on Alabama’s economy. As of July 2022, the company had a market value of approximately $17 billion; it remains Alabama’s only Fortune 500 company.
Hall is on the board of Vulcan Materials, Great Southern Woods Holdings Inc., and Alabama Power. He has also given his time to a variety of philanthropic and community-focused organizations including the Newcomen Society of Alabama, Birmingham Business Alliance, and Children’s of Alabama. He is also a member of The University of Alabama’s President’s Cabinet and the Culverhouse College of Business’s Board of Visitors.
Hall earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Sewanee, the University of the South and his MBA from The University of Alabama.
Alexis M. Herman
Alexis M. Herman is a highly accomplished leader in both business and the public sector and is based in Washington, D.C. She started her career working in Mississippi shipyards helping connect employers to area talent, which later translated to her in the early 1970s creating the Minority Women Employment Program in Atlanta. That program placed the first women of color in professional and technical roles at major corporations like General Motors, Xerox, and Delta Air Lines.
At 29, she was nominated to serve as the Director of the Women’s Bureau in President Jimmy Carter’s administration and in that role, advocated for equal pay for working women. She later served as CEO of the 1992 Democratic National Convention and later served in several positions within the Clinton administration. In 1997, she was nominated and confirmed as the 23rd U.S. Secretary of Labor, and in that position, played a critical role in settling or mediating a number of labor disputes and issues.
After leaving the public sector, she serves as chair and CEO of risk management firm New Ventures, LLC. She is also on the board of directors of Entergy, MGM Resorts, and The Coca-Cola Company.
Herman has also been engaged with a series of civic- and community-focused organizations, including the National Urban League, the National Council of Negro Women, and the Chair of the Advisory Board of Heart of Mary School in Mobile, Alabama.
She graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology.
Michael A. Mouron
The impact of Michael A. Mouron’s innovative approach toward student housing can be felt on college campuses across the country. His firm, Capstone Development Corp, based in Birmingham, developed the “leased by the bed” model for student housing in the 1980s.
This model was successful, but it was the development of a new method for financing projects that reduced exposure to partnering universities that truly helped Capstone scale its growth. From 1990 until Mouron’s retirement as chairman in 2012, Capstone developed about $3 billion in public-private student housing communities. Upon his retirement, Michael Mouron divided Capstone into four “successor companies” giving the people running the various divisions ownership.
In his retirement, Mouron, who lives in Mountain Brook, focuses on a variety of projects adaptive reuse projects in Birmingham. He is also committed to giving back to his alma mater as Co-Chairman of the “Rising Tide” capital campaign, a member of The University of Alabama’s President’s Cabinet, Bryant Society, and UA’s Adapted Athletics Board of Visitors. This latter group is a special point of focus for Mouron: in 2017, he and his wife Kathy made gifts totaling $4 million to support the construction of Stran-Hardin Arena, a $10 million multi-purpose facility for the University’s Adapted Athletics program. He also supports many other organizations, including serving on the boards of First Horizon Bank Birmingham, the City of Mountain Brook’s Planning Committee, and the Lakeshore Foundation’s Advisory Council.
He graduated from The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business with a degree in accounting.
William S. Propst, Sr.
William S. Propst, Sr. was a stalwart supporter and advocate for Huntsville — and played an immense role in growing and nurturing the community’s economic interests. He started his career as a pharmacist and in the 1960s, opened several pharmacies in the Huntsville market. In 1968, he entered into an innovative relationship with Kmart to locate his pharmacies inside the retailer’s stores. The model was a success and soon, Propst was hired to open pharmacies in 1,850 Kmarts across the country.
Kmart later established Qualitest Pharmaceuticals and tapped Propst to lead the generic drugs manufacturer. Eventually, Kmart divested itself of Qualitest, and Propst took ownership and moved operations to Huntsville in 1986. Under his leadership, it became one of the largest generic drug manufacturers in the country. The company was eventually purchased by Endo International in 2007.
After the sale of Qualitest, Propst focused his energies and resources on supporting the Huntsville community. He made gifts to the city’s arts community, funded facilities at the Von Braun Center, and helped establish the Paul Propst Center for Precision Medicine.
He is a graduate of Samford University’s School of Pharmacy.
He passed away on Feb. 1, 2019, at the age of 81.
Kemmons Wilson, Jr.
Kemmons Wilson, Jr., is the principal and vice chairman of the board of directors of Kemmons Wilson Companies, a family-owned company involved in the management of various business interests in four broad categories: hotel/resort management, real estate, private equity, and aviation. The company was founded in 1948 by his father, Kemmons Wilson, Sr., and principally operated in the hospitality industry. By 1972 the company managed over 1,400 hotels around the world under the Holiday Inn banner. In 1990, Wilson Sr. sold his interest in the chain.
In the decades since, the company has diversified and manages or owns hotel properties across Alabama, including Embassy Suites in downtown Tuscaloosa and the hotel at Alabama’s Gulf State Park.
Wilson’s generosity and commitment to civic engagement knows no bounds. He is a member of The University of Alabama’s President’s Cabinet and Culverhouse College of Business Board of Visitors, is a former trustee of Furman University, and is chairman of the board of the Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality and Resort Management at the University of Memphis. He was also a member of the board of directors of Regions Financial Corporation.
Furthermore, he is on the board of directors of Campus Crusade for Christ, DownLine Ministries, and Baptist Hospital Foundation. For the past 25 years, Wilson has intentionally invested in the next generation through mentoring, discipleship, and fostering stewardship. He has started numerous ministries and planted a church where he serves as an elder.
For all his contributions, he has been named Memphis’ “Philanthropist of the Year” and “Mentor of the Year.”
Wilson earned his bachelor’s degree in business from The University of Alabama and graduated from Harvard Business School’s Owner/President Management program.
More Info
Learn more about the Alabama Business Hall of Fame and purchase tickets to the upcoming induction ceremony at culverhouse.ua.edu/abhof.
Contact Zach Thomas, the Alabama Business Hall of Fame Director of Marketing and Communications, at zthomas@culverhouse.ua.edu or 205-348-8318.
Media may download headshots of the 2022 inductees here: