Induction Year: 2022

Walter Batson, Jr.

  • September 29th, 2022

A recognized leader in growing smaller businesses into profitable companies, Walter P. Batson, Jr. currently serves as the CEO and Chairman of Interfuze Corporation, a company that he co-founded in 2016. Since then, he has led Interfuze in its acquisition of two other companies and continues to grow the company to this day.

Batson was born on July 31, 1944, in Birmingham, and attended The University of Alabama, first graduating in 1966 with a bachelors in statistics. After a few years in the workforce at the U.S. Army Missile Command, or MICOM, in Huntsville, he returned to the Capstone to earn both a bachelor’s in accounting and a Master of Arts in operations research in 1970. He continued to work at MICOM until 1979, managing large studies related to weapons effectiveness.

In 1979, he joined John M. Cockerham and Associates, Inc., in Huntsville as vice president, overseeing operations of the government services contractor. Batson wrote the first five major proposals that yielded contracts to grow the firm from six employees to almost 200.

On the heels of this work, in 1986, he was brought on as executive vice president of Hilton Systems, Inc. in Huntsville. There, Batson designed and implemented a new business strategy that included hiring, operations, and the development of a corporate culture. Under his direction, Hilton Systems grew from a small, unprofitable company with one customer to a nationwide organization boasting over $20 million a year in sales.

He then went on to co-found Camber Corporation in 1990 and serve as the CEO and chairman. A diversified organization that was selected by Inc. Magazine as one of the country’s fastest growing companies in 1995 and 1996, Camber grew from a startup of three employees at its beginning to a company producing almost $500 million in annual revenue under Batson’s leadership. While at the helm, Batson negotiated several acquisitions, including a flight simulator business and an air traffic control products business. He also developed an arm of the organization that deployed the flight simulator technology in an entertainment context — Camber Entertainment became an industry leader in less than three years and was eventually spun-off.

In 1998, Batson spearheaded the formation of an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, which allowed employees to become employee-owners. During its history, Camber built flight and entertainment ride simulators and biological detectors, developed training systems for state, local, and federal governments, and created information systems, engineering support services, acquisition management support and program management support to clients including the U.S. Military and NASA.

Active in service, leadership, and philanthropy, Batson has chaired or served on the board of directors for organizations including Biztech, Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, ARC of Madison County, and numerous civic organizations like the March of Dimes. He also coached girls softball for 12 years.

Batson married his wife, Margaret, in 1972, and they have four daughters and one son: Mary Margaret Johnson, Bobby Batson, Dianne Jacobs, Brooke Browning, and Wendy Henshaw. Avid supporters of The University of Alabama, the couple are 2017 inductees of the Bryant Society, and Batson is a member of the Culverhouse College of Business Board of Visitors and UA’s President’s Cabinet. They are also active in the First Methodist Church of Huntsville.

Dixon Brooke, Jr.

  • September 29th, 2022

When F. Dixon Brooke, Jr. first visited Birmingham-based EBSCO Industries in 1970, a periodical subscription service provider to schools and libraries, he toured the Title Information Department and found the company’s database of titles was kept manually on Rolodex cards. When Brooke joined the company as a management trainee in 1973, EBSCO had begun to embrace technology. When Brooke became its third President and CEO of the company in 2005, EBSCO had become the largest supplier of information services in the world.

Today EBSCO’s reach spans an array of industries: it has a leading presence in outdoor products, real estate, manufacturing and distribution, and insurance and information services. EBSCO is consistently ranked in the top three largest privately-held firms in Alabama.

A Birmingham native, Brooke was born in 1948 and attended Marion Military Institute. He then completed his BBA degree at Auburn, graduating in 1970. After graduation, he worked for First National Bank of Birmingham and completed their management training program.

In 1973, Brooke joined EBSCO and later became a regional general manager for the Southeastern U.S. In 1981, he helped establish a new regional office in Sydney, Australia. Then, between the years of 1981 and 2003, he was instrumental in acquiring several competitor subscription agencies for EBSCO. Over the years, he assumed positions of increasing responsibility, culminating in his role as CEO from 2005 until retirement in 2014. As CEO, Brooke led EBSCO through the Great Recession, executing organizational re-engineering in a way that allowed EBSCO to emerge from the crisis stronger. During his time at EBSCO, Brooke was a member of EBSCO’s Founder’s Club, a member of EBSCO’s Lifetime 100% and 200% Sales Clubs, and awardee of the 1982 ESS GM of the Year award. He was named a Top Executive in Birmingham Business Journal’s Inaugural Power Book in 2008.

Brooke is personally committed to improving the quality of life in Birmingham and around the State. He has served as Chairman of the Birmingham ASO and led an Endowment Campaign to assure the Symphony’s continued success. In addition, Brooke led a transformational campaign to fund a new entrance and plaza at the Birmingham Zoo. Further, Brooke has received recognition for his leadership and support from numerous educational institutions, including Alumnus of the Year by Marion Military Institute, Distinguished Alumnus by the Altamont School, and Lifetime Achievement by McCallie School in Chattanooga.

Brooke serves on the Board of Directors of various organizations, both public and private. He is a long-term and Founding Director of Synovus Bank of Birmingham, as well as a Director of its holding company, Synovus Financial Corp. In addition, Brooke serves on the Boards of EBSCO Industries, Inc. and McWane, Inc.

Brooke married the former Dell Stephens in 1970, and they have three children: F. Dixon Brooke III, Nelson O’Hara Brooke, and Carter Brooke Vann, and seven grandchildren.

As avid outdoor enthusiasts and environmental stewards, the Brooke family worked with TNC & Forever Wild Land Trust to preserve and protect from development over 1,600 acres of EBSCO-owned land adjacent to Oak Mountain State Park in Birmingham. The addition of the land expands the size of the park to over 11,000 acres.

Ronald G. Bruno

  • September 29th, 2022

Ronald G Bruno grew up in the grocery business. Starting at the age of 14, he worked as a bagger and cashier at his family’s grocery store chain, Bruno’s. Started by his uncle Joe and soon joined by Mr. Bruno’s father, Angelo and other uncles, Bruno’s began with a single store in Birmingham in 1932. In 1971, Bruno’s became a publicly-traded company, and grew to be one of the top-producing grocery chains in the Southeast, with more than 250 stores and sales approaching $3 billion.

After graduating from The University of Alabama with a bachelor’s in marketing in 1974, Bruno went back to work full-time for the family business as a category buyer. From there, he worked his way up through the ranks to become director of grocery merchandising, vice president of sales, and president. By 1985, he was COO, and in 1991, he became CEO of the company. This same year Bruno worked with his father to create the Bruno’s Classic, an annual golf tournament in Birmingham on the PGA Senior Tour.

But later in 1991, Bruno’s life was rocked by tragedy: a plane crash took the lives of his father and uncle, as well as five other top executives and two pilots. In the midst of grief, Bruno was appointed chairman and charged with bringing stability to the company. He also had to find a way to remain competitive during a time that included the popularization of stores like Walmart Supercenters, as well as rapidly changing technology.

Under Bruno’s leadership, the company adapted. Between 1991 and 1995, Bruno’s opened 15 new stores annually, expanding markets to Atlanta and Nashville, and claiming 50 percent of the Birmingham market share. In 1995, after being approached by KKR with an interest in purchasing the company, Bruno’s sold for $1.2 billion, at that time the largest sale in Alabama history. As a condition of the sale, the buyer had to continue the golf tournament, which was now renamed the Bruno’s Memorial Classic. The event continues to this day under new sponsorship. Now called the Regions Charity Classic, the tournament has donated more than $20 million to charity since its inception.

After the sale of Bruno’s, he founded Bruno Capital Management in 1995, and continues to serve as President to this day. The same year, with partner Gene Hallman, Bruno again leveraged his love for sports to create the Bruno Event Team, which began with the management of a single event–the Memorial Classic–and grew to be one of the largest dedicated sports event management companies in the US. It has hosted golf events including more than 20 USGA national championships as well as multiple PGA tour and LPGA tour events. In addition to golf, Bruno Event Team operates several other divisions, including Zoom Motorsports, College Gameday, and a full-service catering and concessions division, Bruno Hospitality. Bruno was inducted into the Birmingham Golf Hall of Fame in 1994, and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.

During his career, Bruno has served on the board of directors at Bruno’s, Inc., Russell Athletic Corporation, Books-A-Million, and Southtrust Bank. A committed philanthropist, he has also supported numerous civic organizations, including the United Way Tocqueville Society, the St. Vincent’s Foundation and The University of Alabama President’s Cabinet and the Culverhouse College of Business Board of Visitors. The Angelo Bruno Business Library, which was named for his late father and services the research needs of Culverhouse students, was funded and is still supported by Bruno and his family.

Bruno married Lee Ann Bruno in 1982. They have one son, Ronald Gregory Bruno, Jr.

Grayson Hall

  • September 29th, 2022

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.

He married the former Susan Stringer in 1982 and together they have three children: Laura Hall Money (Scott), John Hall (Lauren), and Anna Hall Johnson (Daniel) and six grandchildren.

Alexis M. Herman

  • September 29th, 2022

The Honorable Alexis Herman has made her mark as one of the most accomplished women to ever emerge from Alabama. A social worker, politician, and entrepreneur, Herman now works as chair and CEO of New Ventures, LLC, a corporate consulting company, and serves on the boards of directors for several major companies. She also chairs the Diversity Advisory Board for the Toyota Motor Company.

Born in Mobile in 1947 to a schoolteacher mother and an entrepreneur/politician father, Herman saw the effects of Jim Crow firsthand. Her parents, who were devout Catholics, sent her to parochial schools that were still segregated at the time. As a girl, Herman witnessed the impact of segregation on her community, and this sparked a passion in her for social justice and activism. As a sophomore in high school, she questioned the archdiocese’s practice of excluding Black students from full participation in religious pageants and placing them at the rear of religious gatherings. This resulted in her suspension from school. However, she was readmitted when Black parents protested. More importantly, the ultimate result was the desegregation of the Mobile Parochial School System the following year.

After earning a degree in sociology from Xavier University of Louisiana in 1969, Herman devoted herself to social work, returning to Mobile to help desegregate public schools. She began her career as a social worker helping young men gain admittance to apprenticeships in the Pascagoula, Mississippi shipyard. Because of her passion and success in placing the first minority males in apprenticeship jobs, she was asked to move to Atlanta, GA to spearhead a similar effort. This effort established a ten-city program to recruit and place women of color into professional and managerial jobs in private industry. She helped place the first women of color into professional and technical jobs in companies that included General Motors, Delta Airlines, and Coca-Cola. This work gained her national recognition, and in 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed her, at age 29, to be the youngest director of the Women’s Bureau in the history of the U. S. Department of Labor.

At the end of the Carter administration in 1981, Sec. Herman founded A. M. Herman & Associates, a consulting firm that led to significant diversity and inclusion work with a number of companies, including Proctor & Gamble and AT&T. She remained a high-profile political figure and was eventually called to serve as Chief Executive Officer of the 1992 Democratic National Convention. After the inauguration of President Bill Clinton in 1992, she was appointed as the first African American woman Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison. In 1997, she again made history when she was sworn in as the first African American to be appointed and confirmed as Secretary of the U. S. Department of Labor.

During her tenure as Labor Secretary, unemployment reached a thirty-year low. Sec. Herman garnered praise for her efforts to institute effective child labor standards, her deft handling of the UPS worker’s strike of 1997, and her advocacy to increase the minimum wage. Her public service has supported five presidents of the United States, both Democrat and Republican.

Sec. Herman has been awarded more than 30 honorary doctorates and is an inductee into both the Minority Business Hall of Fame and the National Women’s History Project. Her non-profit work includes service on the boards of the National Urban League and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She is a former trustee for her alma mater, Xavier University, a current trustee of the Toyota Technological Institute at the University of Chicago, is on the board of the Bush-Clinton Presidential Leadership Scholars initiative, and chairs the Dorothy I. Height Educational Foundation, and the Advisory Board of her alma mater, Heart of Mary, in Mobile.

In 2000, Secretary Herman married the late Charles L. Franklin, a successful family physician in McLean, VA.

Michael A. Mouron

  • September 29th, 2022

When Michael A. Mouron graduated from The University of Alabama in 1972 and began his career as an accountant, student housing was the farthest thing from his mind. But in 1980, he began working in development for a construction firm in Montgomery, Alabama, and became aware of a new model of condo that was housing for college students but an investment for their parents. Little did he know that this experience would plant a seed that eventually grew into Birmingham-based Capstone Development Corp, whose “leased by the bed” model of student housing revolutionized the business.

Mouron became the head of the development arm of Birmingham firm Polar BEK in 1985 and began building apartments near college campuses, which were easier to finance than condos. He worked for Polar BEK for five years but left in 1990 to launch his own development company, along with three other co-workers. The company, Capstone Development, focused on college student housing.

Capstone began its management operations in 1991 when it rolled out the “lease by the bed” model. Unlike traditional arrangements, where students and parents are responsible for the entire leased unit, this new model made them responsible only for one bed. This way, if one or more of the residents defaulted on the rent, the others would not be liable. Because of the success of this model, Capstone grew rapidly. From 1990 until Mouron’s retirement as chairman in 2012, Capstone developed about $3 billion in student housing communities both off and on campuses.

When Mouron retired, he divided Capstone into four “successor companies,” with ownership given to the various division heads — his family retained ownership of one. However, retirement did not slow him down much. He began investing in real estate projects that interested him personally. For instance, he bought a vacant building in his hometown of Mountain Brook, Alabama, renovated the property then leased it to Little Hardware, a Mountain Brook staple. He renovated the Federal Reserve Building in downtown Birmingham. Then, in 2021, he developed the Valley Hotel in Homewood, Alabama. He also restored the historic Birmingham Greyhound bus terminal, where the Freedom Riders once disembarked during the Civil Rights movement.

A strong sense of civic duty caused Mouron to establish The Mouron Family Foundation. He is a member of The University of Alabama’s President’s Cabinet and UA’s Adapted Athletics Board of Visitors. In 2017, Mouron 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. Furthermore, the couple are co-chairs of UA’s $1.5 billion Rising Tide capital campaign.

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.

Mouron married Kathy Neugent in 1976, and they have three sons: Drew, Christopher, and Lewis, and eight grandchildren.

William S. Propst, Sr.

  • September 29th, 2022

William “Bill” Self Propst, Sr. was born February 15, 1937, in Walkers Chapel, AL. His father Paul Propst was a Methodist minister, and his mother, Margaret a secretary to the President at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. From an early age, Propst was encouraged by his mother and grandmother to work hard and take risks, and as a teenager he started his own business fabricating and installing steel beams and ironwork.

At 21, Propst decided to follow in his brother Michael’s footsteps and go to pharmacy school. He entered Howard University – now known as Samford University – in 1958, going to school during the day and working full-time at night. After graduation, Propst briefly worked for Walgreens pharmacy. By 1963, he opened his own pharmacy in Huntsville, followed by four more locations shortly thereafter. With his business rapidly expanding, so was his competition. A then-small chain named Kmart opened a store in Florence, AL, selling health and beauty aids below Propst’s cost. Since Kmart at the time didn’t have pharmacies in their stores, he quickly began working to convince Kmart management to open pharmacies within Kmart stores across the country. After some initial resistance, Kmart agreed, and Propst moved his family to Detroit to become president of Kmart pharmacies opening over 1,800 pharmacies during his time there. While at Kmart, Propst started a generic drug division for Kmart called Qualitest Pharmaceuticals to help control the cost, insurance, and consistency of drugs for his pharmacies. In 1986 Propst retired from Kmart, bought a minority interest in Qualitest, and moved the business and his family back to Huntsville, later purchasing the remaining stake in Qualitest in 1989.

To be successful long-term in the generic drug business, Propst knew he would have to manufacture them to compete. In 1990, he purchased a solid dose pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Charlotte, NC, named it Vintage Pharmaceuticals, and soon thereafter expanded further opening state-of-the-art liquid and solid dose manufacturing facilities as well as an automated distribution center in his hometown of Huntsville. The enterprise composed over 1 million square feet of manufacturing, warehouse, and office space.

From 1986 to 2007, Propst grew Qualitest/ Vintage to one of the largest generic drug companies in the country, producing billions of doses from over 160 drug products, and employed close to 800 employees. He sold his business to private equity firm Apax Partners in October 2007 for close to a billion dollars.

After the sale of Qualitest/Vintage, Propst founded Propst Properties, a real estate company with offices in Huntsville and Birmingham. He also turned his attention to philanthropy, establishing the Paul Propst Center for Precision Medicine — in honor of his father — at Hudson Alpha Institute in Huntsville, funding the construction of the Eloise McDonald Propst Welcome Center at Huntsville Botanical Gardens, as well as starting the Propst Foundation. He also gave generously to organizations such as Samford University, Randolph School, and the Von Braun Center.

He passed away in 2019 and is survived by his wife, Eloise McDonald Propst, and four children: William Self Propst, Jr., Emily Propst Reiney, Charles Vincent Propst, and Michael Jay Propst, as well as nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Kemmons Wilson, Jr.

  • September 29th, 2022

C. Kemmons “Kem” Wilson, Jr., was brought up modestly, despite his father’s success in founding the Holiday Inn chain of hotels. Now the Vice Chairman of the Board of Kemmons Wilson Companies, with interests in hospitality, real estate development, private equity and aviation. Wilson continues his father’s legacy of impressive success coupled with personal modesty and commitment to service.

Born in 1946 to C. Kemmons and Dorothy Wilson, Wilson attended The University of Alabama, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1968. Wilson also attended the Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1979 in its Owner/President Management program. He also served in the U.S. Navy.

He became actively involved in the management of family business in 1971. The company developed hotels, apartments, condos, office buildings, shopping centers and warehouses nationwide. Wilson also built the first Factory Outlet Mall in the U.S.

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. This latter property was an outcome of litigation related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster — a settlement with BP allowed for the construction of a lodge focused on environmental sustainability. Attorney Cooper Shattuck, who was involved in the litigation, said, “[The Lodge at Gulf State Park] would not have been possible without the insight, know-how, and dedication of Kem Wilson. Kem was an invaluable consultant who made the vision and this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity a reality. And the continued success of the Lodge shows just how right he was.”

Furthermore, the Kemmons Wilson Companies portfolio includes Valor Hospitality Partners, which provides a comprehensive approach toward lodging from the conceptualization and design of new buildings to the management of existing properties. The firm has active and passive stakes in many other companies including Central BBQ, Billy Reid, Tecovas, the Memphis Grizzlies, WISEACRE Brewery Co., and SpaceX.

The family also oversees a vast Vacation Ownership network called Holiday Inn Vacation Club. It owns and operates 30 world-class resorts and recently received the J.D. Power Award for Outstanding Customer service.

Committed to generosity and civic engagement, Wilson is a member of The University of Alabama’s President’s Cabinet and Culverhouse College of Business Board of Visitors, a former trustee of Furman University, and 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.

Wilson is a man of deep faith, and he serves 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.”

In his spare time, Wilson likes to hunt, fly fish, hike, and play golf. He also likes to cheer for the Crimson Tide football team. He
is married to the former Norma Thompson, and they have five children: Caruthers (Carey) Wilson Snider; Kemmons Wilson III; Katherine Wilson Blackney; McLean Thompson Wilson; and Elizabeth Wilson Pelly. They have “20” grandchildren.

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