Induction Year: 1991

Hugh Franklin Culverhouse, Sr.

  • October 26th, 2021

Hugh Franklin Culverhouse, Sr. could serve as a role model for future businessmen and women. The record of his accomplishments reveals that he is a person who does his best in whatever job he undertakes. He has been dedicated to excellence and has worked diligently to achieve it. At the same time, he has relished the joy of working with and helping others.

Hugh F. Culverhouse, Sr. grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was born on February 20, 1919. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at The University of Alabama and was awarded a B.S. degree in 1941-that memorable year when the United States entered World War II.

From 1941 to 1946, the young graduate served in the United States Army Air Force. After discharge, he returned to the University where he completed his law degree in 1947.

While in law school, Hugh Culverhouse taught accounting classes in the College of Commerce and Business Administration. He continued to teach accounting while he served as Assistant Attorney General for the State of Alabama from 1947 to 1949. Hugh Culverhouse evidently enjoyed teaching, for he has since said that he would like to teach again someday because teaching is something special – that is, one cannot measure success in teaching with dollars and cents.

From October 1949 to May 1956 (except for the two years he was recalled to active duty during the Korean War) Hugh Culverhouse served as Special Attorney and Assistant Regional Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service.

In May 1956, “Colonel” Culverhouse (the rank he held at the time of release from active duty) established a private law practice in Jacksonville, Florida. His firm became known for its expertise in the field of taxation, perhaps because (as Hugh Culverhouse has said) he enjoys planning for taxes and economic growth. But, perhaps most significantly, he enjoys working with people and helping them solve their problems.

Hugh Culverhouse is today the senior member of the law firm of Culverhouse & Botts in Tampa, Florida. He holds membership in the Jacksonville, Hillsborough County, and American Bar Association, as well as the Florida Bar and the Alabama State Bar.

As Hugh Culverhouse acquired status in the legal profession, he also began to acquire status as a real estate developer. For example, one of his projects was the successful development of the Palmer Ranch in Sarasota, which included building the golf course for the Chrysler Cup, a stop on the seniors’ golf tour. His holdings also include citrus groves in Okeechobee and Arcadia, Florida, and Ivanhoe Land Development of Miami.

In December 1974, Hugh Culverhouse was awarded the franchise for the National Football League expansion team in Tampa which began play in the fall of 1976 as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Very active in league affairs, as well as in the management of his team, he is the past chairman of both the Executive Committee of the NFL Management Council and the NFL Finance Committee. He is considered one of the most influential owners in the NFL.

Hugh Culverhouse serves on numerous corporate boards of directors including Time Warner, Inc., New York City; the Penn Central Corporation, Cincinnati, Ohio; the Chiquita Brands International, Cincinnati, Ohio. His service also includes membership on the PGA Policy Board and the National Legal Center for Public Interest.

This busy tax lawyer, real estate developer, and professional football team owner has still found time through the years to be a part of civic, educational, and cultural projects in the Southeast and elsewhere.

For example, he was one of the original organizers and first president of the Family Consultation Service in Jacksonville, Florida. He extended his involvement and contributions to family and children’s welfare by supporting, among others, the Center for Swallowing Disorders and the Eye Institute at the University of South Florida; the Child Abuse Council; the Children’s Home; the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York; and the Foundation for Children with Learning Disorders.

In addition to his concerns for health care, he has endeavored to enrich the lives of individuals through the support of the Sarasota Opera and the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

He has also dedicated his time to economic progress in his adopted state by serving as a member of a variety of state and local organizations-from a member of the Florida Council of 100 and its chairman of the Committee on Sports and Tourism; to the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness & Sports and the Sunshine Games Foundation; to the Florida Council on Economic Education; to the Greater Tampa Area Chamber of Commerce.

His support of excellence in higher education in both Florida and his native state of Alabama is legendary.

He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida, and of the Board of Overseers of Stetson University’s College of Law. He has endowed chairs at Stetson University College of Law, Jacksonville University, the University of Florida College of Law, the University of South Florida in Tampa.

At his alma mater, The University of Alabama, Hugh Culverhouse has been a long-time member of the University’s National Alumni Association. For many years, he has been a member of both the Commerce Executives Society and the College of Commerce and Business Administration’s Board of Visitors-those groups dedicated to providing necessary guidance and financial support in addition to state support to ensure that the university can provide quality programs and service. In March 1984, Hugh Culverhouse’s gift to the University’s Capital Campaign enabled the creation of an endowed chair-the Hugh F. Culverhouse Chair of Accountancy. Then, in April 1988, he made a $2 million contribution to C&BA’s School of Accountancy. This largest individual financial contribution in the history of the University, at that time, was perhaps Hugh Culverhouse’s way of showing appreciation for the education he received at the University. He once said that the education he received at The University of Alabama was his platform to life and it has immeasurably contributed to his happiness.

In appreciation of Hugh Culverhouse’s generosity in providing needed funds to ensure continuing excellence in the accounting program, the University’s School of Accountancy was named the Culverhouse School of Accountancy. For his many-faceted contributions to society,

Hugh Culverhouse has received well-deserved recognition.

In 1976, he was President Gerald Ford’s representative, with the title of U. S. Ambassador, at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.

In 1979, he was the recipient of The Champions of Higher Education in Florida (CHIEF) Award. In 1984, he was the first to receive the Florida Enterprise Medal sponsored by the Merchants Association of Greater Tampa. He has received honorary doctorates from Jacksonville University and Stetson University College of Law. In 1990, he received the Outstanding Business Leader Award from the Northwood Institute of West Palm Beach, Florida, and was inducted into the Jacksonville, Florida, Sports Hall of Fame, and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

At his alma mater, he has been named as Honorary Professor of Accountancy and an Honorary Member of the University Law School’s Order of the Coif. He has been awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters degree by The University of Alabama and a C&BA Distinguished Alumni Award.

Through the years, this versatile, energetic man has had the support of his wife (the former Joy McCann of Montgomery, Alabama, whom he met as a student at the University, and whom he married in 1942) and their two children (Dr. Gay Culverhouse and Attorney Hugh F. Culverhouse, Jr. of Miami, Florida).

J. Reese Phifer

  • October 26th, 2021

Reese Phifer, Chairman, and CEO of Phifer Wire Products, Inc., has been called the prototype of an entrepreneur. Reese Phifer, Chairman, and CEO of Phifer Wire Products, Inc., has been called the prototype of an entrepreneur. In 1952, he rented an old, vacant warehouse in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and set up a small, five­loom weaving operation which he called Phifer Aluminum Screen Company. From this humble beginning arose Phifer Wire Products, Inc.

This corporation today sells its products in all fifty states and exports products to over 125 countries. The corporation, still locally owned and operated, has also become one of West Alabama’s largest and most respected corporate citizens.

One of three sons of William and Olga Gough Phifer, Reese Phifer was born on February 19, 1916, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where for many years his father owned and operated a grocery store in Tuscaloosa’s West End. During his years in the public schools, the young man was a good student as well as a good athlete. In high school, he was one of the area’s outstanding athletes and later (in 1968) was named to the Tuscaloosa High School Football “Hall of Fame.”

After graduating from Tuscaloosa High School, Reese Phifer entered The University of Alabama and earned a B.S. degree in commerce in 1938 and a law degree in 1940. With the advent of World War II, he served as a pilot in the Army Air Force and logged many hours flying the famous P-51 Mustang.

After his discharge from the service, Reese Phifer returned to his hometown to resume his career as a lawyer. He served briefly as an Assistant City Solicitor for the City of Tuscaloosa before entering private practice.

While practicing law, he conceived the idea of a wire-screening weaving operation. After two years of studying the feasibility of setting up such an operation, he established in 1952 a manufacturing plant that would eventually become the world’s largest producer of woven screen wire. The original company, Phifer Aluminum Screen Company, was soon renamed Phifer Wire Products and by 1956 had moved to larger facilities. Installation of fine wire drawing equipment enabled the company to produce the .013-inch diameter wire necessary to weave insect screening. Later a large breakdown mill allowed the company to have more control over the final product. From the very beginning, Reese Phifer put major emphasis on “Quality, Service, and Delivery.”

In 1963, Phifer Wire Products, under Reese Phifer’s leadership, developed a totally new product – a woven, all-aluminum screening which acts as a solar screen to help keep out solar rays and solar heat gain. This Phifer invention, marketed under the brand name SunScreen, gave the company an exclusive product to add to its product line.

In 1974, Phifer adapted the aluminum SunScreen concept to the new fiberglass yarns, because in 1970 Reese Phifer had the foresight to initiate the construction of a fiberglass weaving plant with the finest weaving machines available.

In the 1970s the company continued to expand and modernize its facilities, as well as to search for new products and markets. A new warehouse and shipping facility as well as a yarn-coating division, a chemical division, and a new international headquarters office building were all constructed in the Kauloosa Ave. Industrial Park area. Phifer Wire Products, Inc. emerged as the most modern and efficient plant in the world for the production of aluminum and fiberglass insect screening.

In 1982, the company added another woven product, Phifertex, a vinyl-coated product widely used in the outdoor and leisure furniture market.

Today, Phifer products – all manufactured in Tuscaloosa – may be seen by customers in Phifer warehouses and sales offices in Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, New York, Salt Lake City, St. Petersburg, or Honolulu. The company’s corporate aircraft is used extensively by the home office sales team in Tuscaloosa to work with salespeople and customers in the field, and to regularly bring in customers and potential customers to Tuscaloosa. The company’s fleet of modern tractor-trailer trucks travel over a million miles a tear to make deliveries to customers from coast to coast and to all major ports for export abroad.

Under the leadership of Reese Phifer, the company has achieved national and international recognition. In 1984, he was a special guest of President Ronald Reagan at the White House to receive the prestigious “E” Award in recognition of the company’s success in export sales. He had realized early on that the seasonal demand for screen wire reached its peak every summer, so he turned to exports to countries with seasons opposite the U.S.A.

Also under his leadership, Phifer Wire Products has always been an equal opportunity employer. In 1981, Phifer was presented the very first Human Rights Award ever given by the local NAACP organization. In 1988, Phifer Wire Products was the recipient of the Presidential “C” Award. The familiar “We Can…We Care” Award was initiated to recognize companies such as Phifer for corporate involvement in such areas as education, drug abuse, job training and assistance to the handicapped. Also, under Reese Phifer’s leadership, job opportunities have been made available to physically challenged and mentally handicapped persons, disabled veterans, and persons with hearing problems; and the company has always felt fortunate and grateful to the employees who do such an outstanding job.

Through the years, Reese Phifer has made many contributions to The University of Alabama through Phifer Wire Products as well as the Reese Phifer, Jr. Memorial Trust, the charitable arm of the company which was established in 1964 in memory of Reese Phifer, Jr., who died in an airplane accident.

In recognition of Reese Phifer’s continuing support of The University of Alabama, the Board of Trustees this year named the Old Union Building (which now houses the College of Communications) Reese Phifer Hall.

Reese Phifer has always had a vision of the American Dream – based on hard work, ingenuity, and innovation – as well as a sense of social responsibility. Phifer Wire Products, Inc. represents his fulfillment of that dream and reflects the vision of its founder, now Chairman and CEO.

Other officers of this family-owned, Tuscaloosa-based, international industry are members of Reese Phifer’s family. His wife, Sue Clarkson Phifer, is Senior Vice President; his oldest daughter Beverly Phifer serves as President; daughters Karen Phifer Brooks and Susan Phifer Cork serve as Vice Presidents; sons-in-law Brad Cork and Jim Brooks serve as Senior Executive Vice Presidents.

Today, the Phifers and Phifer Wire Products, Inc. continue to chart a course which opens windows to the future and around the world.

Eugene Cleveland Gwaltney

  • October 26th, 2021

Eugene Cleveland Gwaltney, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Russell Corporation based in Alexander City, Alabama, has been with the company for 39 years and is still enthusiastic about his work and the textile industry. Just last year (in June 1990 Textile World) he was quoted as saying, “So many new procedures are coming onstream… The next ten years are going to be exciting times.”

In an industry that has been battered by a flood of imports, Russell Corporation under Eugene Gwaltney’s leadership has emerged as a world-class manufacturer of activewear and sports uniforms, ready to compete in the world market. He has been an innovator since he became- President and CEO in 1972. He is still an innovator, as indicated by his being chosen by Fortune (Spring/Summer 1991) as one of twenty-five business people who exemplify those in the United States who are helping America become a stronger competitor. These people generate ideas and put them into action.

Eugene Cleveland Gwaltney was born in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on January 25, 1918. After graduating from high school in Macon, Georgia, he entered Georgia Tech from which he earned a B.S.M.E. in 1940. His graduate study at M.I.T. came to a halt when the United States entered World War II. He served in the Army Corps of Engineers from 1941 to 1945, and he held the rank of major when he was discharged.

Before joining Russell in 1952 as Director of Research and Quality Control, he held positions with Burlington Mills, Arlind Corporation, and Robert & Company. By 1957, he had been named General Superintendent at Russell; by 1960, Vice President and Director; by 1968, President and Chief Operations Officer.

When he became President and CEO in 1972, Russell Corporation was earning about 3% on sales of $75 million. The prevailing industry wisdom at that time was to keep capital spending down, but Eugene Gwaltney disagreed with this philosophy. This “maverick of the textile industry,” as he has since been called, initiated capital spending on the modernization of all facets of the Russell operation.

He believed then, as he does now, that companies should not worry about 90-day progress reports. Companies should plan for the long term and be willing to invest in new technology today in order to ensure profits in the future.

Eugene Gwaltney’s philosophy has proved a valid one. Within three years after he became President and CEO, Russell’s profit from sales had doubled from 3% to 6%. In 1980, Russell was cited by Textile World as the Model Mill for the Eighties. By 198•4, Russell was earning 8% on sales of $353 million, almost double the industry average. By 1990, sales had reached $688 million, and Fortune 500 ranked Russell Corp. fourteenth in total return to shareholders during the previous decade. As the last decade of the 20th century began, Eugene Gwaltney said he hoped that Russell would also be the model mill for the 1990s, and it well might be.

Today Russell Corp. (once primarily a producer of ladies undergarments) is a vertically integrated, international manufacturer and marketer of leisure apparel, activewear, athletic uniforms, better-knit shirts, and a comprehensive line of lightweight yarn-dyed woven fabrics.

The company has become known worldwide for its continued modernization, acquisition, and innovative equipment investments. In every aspect of its vertical operation-from raw fiber to finished fabric to garment-Russell is continually seeking quality. For example, there is now a test and evaluation facility which helps management assess new machinery for plants in operation or on the drawing board. The company has also invested in a ginning operation to experiment in producing quality fibers.

While the corporation continues to modernize and expand its operations in the U.S. and abroad (in 1990, a sweatshirt and T-shirt manufacturing plant in Scotland became UK-Russell), Eugene Gwaltney has never lost sight of the value of Russell employees in the success of the company. He has created a climate in which employees want to learn new ways of doing things because they realize that profits occur only if everyone makes 100% effort. He believes in “hands-on management” and trains each group of new managers to be ready to “roll up their sleeves” to make new projects work.

There are exemplary childcare, education, and employee assistance programs, as well as a system of rewarding workers for a job well done.

Faith in the corporation is reflected by the fact that there are second, third, and fourth generation workers in the Alexander City operations. Also, almost everyone in senior management has been a Russell employee for a minimum of twenty years. Everyone at Russell knows the company is secure and that each person has a part in its success.

Russell Corporation has, of course, played a major role in the development of Alexander City, Alabama, since Benjamin Russell founded Russell Manufacturing Company in 1902. The family name is on the local high school, the stadium, and the hospital.

Eugene Gwaltney has extended the corporation’s involvement in the welfare of the community and its citizens through, for example, emphasis on the importance of education. Today young people seeking employment at Russell must not only have a high school diploma or

G.E.D. but also must exhibit the needed capabilities in math and reading skills required for their intended jobs. Parents working at Russell are encouraged to take part in their children’s education. Employees can take time off with pay for any requested parent-teacher conferences.

Eugene Gwaltney serves Alexander City as chairman of the Russell Hospital Board of Trustees and as vice chairman of the First National Bank of Alexander City.

Through the years, Eugene Gwaltney has also found time to serve as President of the National Knitwear Manufacturing Association and the Alabama Textile Manufacturing Association. He has been a director of the American Textile Manufacturing Institute, of the Alabama Chamber of Commerce, and of the Federal Reserve Bank in Birmingham.

He has lent his expertise and his support to higher education in Alabama through service as a member of the Board of Visitors of the College of Commerce and the Manderson Graduate School of Business at The University of Alabama; as a trustee at Birmingham-Southern College and Tuskegee Institute; and as a member of the Georgia Tech National Advisory Board.

He is currently a trustee emeritus of the Georgia Tech Foundation, as well as a member of the Alabama Management Improvement Institute and the Alabama Study Commission.

For his leadership and contributions, Eugene Gwaltney has received numerous awards. In 1976 he was the recipient of the MIT Corporate Leadership Award. In 1978, he was named Alexander City “Man of the Year,” and, in 1982, the New York Board of Trade ”Textile Man of the Year.” In 1987, he was an honoree of the American Apparel Education Foundation. In 1988, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from The University of Alabama in Birmingham.

Eugene C. Gwaltney, who is married to the former Nancy Russell, is probably the last of the family who will manage Russell Corporation. But this corporation, still 40% family-owned, will surely continue to be competitive in the world market because of Eugene Gwaltney’s philosophy of calculated investment in the best machinery, the best people, and the best marketing tools.

“We decided to be the best,” Eugene Gwaltney once said. And the best is what the corporation is and probably will be.

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