Dr. Marnix E. Heersink

• November 20th, 2024

Marnix Heersink is an eye surgeon by training, but an entrepreneur at heart. It started early. After moving with his family from his native Netherlands to Canada, at the age of 10 he worked a paper route, earning around five dollars a week delivering the local paper The Hamilton Spectator. Later, in medical school, he found time to purchase, then renovate a house, rent it, and finally sell it at a profit. Throughout his life, Heersink has balanced this competitive, entrepreneurial drive with a desire to improve the lives of people.

Heersink played basketball for his high school and played center for the University of Western Ontario. He was invited to play for Canada in the 1972 Olympics and was inducted into the University of Western Ontario Sports Hall of Fame as well as the Burlington Sports Hall of Fame. “He was the best to ever play at Western,” said friend Col. Dr. Ron Foxcroft, longtime international referee and the inventor of the famous Fox Whistle. “He could have played in the NBA.”

But Heersink already had his sights set on medicine. When he was a boy of about sixteen, Heersink remembers his father sitting down with him to discover a career path. At that time, the young Heersink was unsure what he wanted to do, but soon, it became clear to his father that Heersink wanted a career focused on helping people. He credits that realization as the beginning of his interest in medicine.

After earning his bachelor’s (magna cum laude) and medical degrees at the University of Western Ontario in Canada and following a surgical internship in Montreal, Heersink completed an ophthalmology residency and an anterior segment surgery fellowship, both in Philadelphia, where he met his wife, Mary. In 1978, the Heersinks moved to Dothan, Alabama. “We had in our possession a used car, some clothes, and a lot of love and hope. And great educations,” he said in an interview.

Early on, Heersink remembers taking a risk and buying a 10,000 square foot office building in Dothan for his practice. Overwhelmed by the purchase, he suggested to his wife that they should live in the building and have his office downstairs. That idea was a non-starter. But from those humble beginnings, he would go on to cofound Eye Center South — which in the decades since has grown to 12 locations across Alabama, Georgia and Florida — and then open Health Center South, a 140,000-square-foot, state-ofthe-art medical tower complex for doctors of all specialties in Dothan. Heersink is also an owner or agent of many other companies, including real estate holdings and manufacturing entities in the United States and abroad.

He has taught and lectured internationally, participated in research studies, and is a fellow and member of multiple professional organizations including the American Academy of Ophthalmology, International College of Surgeons, American College of Surgeons, American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. Heersink is certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and the American Board of Eye Surgery.

Committed philanthropists, the Heersinks have funded numerous scholarships and fellowships at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Troy Business School, and Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. They established the Wiregrass Pathway to Optometry scholarship. Heersink also founded the Eye Education Foundation, an educational nonprofit for eye care professionals, in 1984. Finally, Heersink has served or serves on numerous nonprofit boards. His commitment to philanthropic gift giving stems from and is inspired by a Native American saying: “We have all been warmed by fires that we did not light.”

Recently, the family made transformative gifts to two universities: the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which named its medical school the Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine, and McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, which resulted in the creation of the Marnix E. Heersink School of Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship. By supporting the two young universities, Heersink hopes to encourage entrepreneurial innovation and collaboration across national borders.

He holds an honorary doctorate from McMaster University.

Heersink and Mary live in Dothan, Alabama, and have six children and 11 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.

Joseph S. Bruno

• October 26th, 2021

The life of Joseph S. ‘Joe” Bruno (Chairman Emeritus of Bruno’s, Inc., and Chairman of Big B, Inc. of Birmingham, Alabama) could well have been the subject of one of Horatio Alger’s books about boys of character who succeeded through hard work and honesty in the face of all odds. In 1980, Joe Bruno was one of the recipients of the prestigious awards named for the author of these well-known stories – and none other has been more deserving of this honor.

The eldest of the eight children of Vincent and Maria Theresa Costa Bruno was born in Bir­mingham on October 3, 1912. His parents had come to America from Sicily in 1909 to pursue their dreams of a better life.

Like many others who fled to the United States in the early 20th century, Vincent Bruno found work in a steel mill in the Birmingham area and settled in a small house in a company town near the mill.

To supplement the family income, the Brunos raised vegetables and chickens and kept a goat to provide milk for cheese. Any food not used at the table was peddled to neighbors. Since Joe’s father worked long hours at the steel mill, the supervision of the household and its finances rested primarily with his mother, and each child learned to assume responsibilities compatible with his or her age.

When he was twelve years old, it became Joe Bruno’s responsibility to seek work outside the household because his father’s work at the steel mill had become sporadic.

Twelve-year-old Joe went to board with the Vincent Rosato family and to work in the Rosato grocery store. His wages – $5 a week at the time – went into the family “kitty”, as did the wages of his brother Sam, who, at age twelve, went to board and work with another grocer. Even though the youngster was up at 4:00 to go to market with Mr. Rosato before school and often worked after school until 9:00 p.m., he made good grades in school. And, as he became more and more fascinated with the grocery business, he attended summer school to accelerate his graduation. His dream was for his family to own a grocery store.

In the depth of the Great Depression, Joe Bruno’s dream came true. The nineteen-year-old took a chance and used his family’s savings – $600 – to purchase a 20′ by 40’ grocery store from a man too ill to continue running it. This Bruno’s Grocery Store, on the corner of Eighth Avenue North and Tenth Street in Birm­ingham, would have fit inside a modern meat cooler. He and his brother Sam quit their jobs and moved the family into the small living quarters adjacent to the store.

The whole family participated in various capacities in operating the store, but Joe Bruno was considered the head of the family business. He immediately began to initiate some of the revolu­tionary marketing techniques that eventually resulted in the creation of one of the fastest grow­ing, most profitable, and most innovative food and drug chains in the nation.

For example, on credit, he bought stock in far larger quantities and more varieties than his competitors in the neighborhood. On handbills (distributed by his four youngest brothers after school) he advertised “brand names at low prices.” Although he established a policy of no credit-a dramatic departure from small groceries of that time-the store thrived. The public seemed attracted by the abundance and variety of goods and the low prices. Buying in volume and selling at advertised low prices for quality goods became two key factors in the growth of the Bruno stores.

As Joe Bruno has said, “You can’t stand still, and you can never stop dreaming.” The ensuing years are testimony to the fact that he and his brothers followed this philosophy. By 1952, when there were four stores operated by the six Bruno brothers, Joe Bruno decided it was time to incorporate, rent a warehouse, and use the pooled volume to buy direct.

Eighth Avenue North and Tenth Street in Birm­ingham would have fit inside a modern meat cooler. He and his brother Sam quit their jobs and moved the family into the small living quarters adjacent to the store.

The whole family participated in various capacities in operating the store, but Joe Bruno was considered the head of the family business. He immediately began to initiate some of the revolutionary marketing techniques that eventually resulted in the creation of one of the fastest-growing, most profitable, and most innovative food and drug chains in the nation.

For example, on credit, he bought stock in far larger quantities and more varieties than his competitors in the neighborhood. On handbills (distributed by his four youngest brothers after school) he advertised “brand names at low prices.” Although he established a policy of no credit-a dramatic departure from small groceries of that time-the store thrived. The public seemed attracted by the abundance and variety of goods and the low prices. Buying in volume and selling at advertised low prices for quality goods became two key factors in the growth of the Bruno stores.

As Joe Bruno has said, “You can’t stand still, and you can never stop dreaming.” The ensuing years are testimony to the fact that he and his brothers followed this philosophy. By 1952, when there were four stores operated by the six Bruno brothers, Joe Bruno decided it was time to incorporate, rent a warehouse, and use the pooled volume to buy direct.

He is a past president and executive director of the Jefferson County Unit of the American Cancer Society and past chairman of the Board of the American Red Cross. He has been a member of the boards of the National Con­ference of Christians and Jews; of the Jefferson County Mental Health Association; United Way; the Community Food Bank; the Salvation Army; and St. Vincent’s Hospital. He has served on the Board of Trustees of Southern Benedictine College and Birmingham-Southern College; and has worked with the Miles College and United Negro College Funds.

Joe Bruno has always shared his good fortune to improve the quality of life for others. His philanthropic activities include the establish­ment of: the Joseph S. Bruno Foundation to fund non-profit primary schools; the Joseph S. and Theresa R. Bruno Cancer Center at St. Vincent’s Hospital; the Nutrition Sciences Building and (along with his brothers) the Bruno Neuros­cience Intensive Care Unit at UAB medical center.

For his varied accomplishments and services, Joe Bruno has been honored by numerous local, state, and national organizations.

He has been the recipient of the Greater Bir­mingham Service Award; the Alex de Tocqueville Society Award (United Way); honorary degrees from St. Bernard College and the University of Alabama at Birmingham; and the Exemplary Dedication to Higher Education Award from the Alabama Association of Col­leges and Universities. A Chair of Retailing in the Free Enterprise system has been established in his honor at Birmingham-Southern College. He has been inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor.

He has also received the Brotherhood Award from the National Conferences of Christians and Jews; the Horatio Alger Award; the “Man of the Year” award from the Order of the Sons of Italy; and the Knights Officer in the Order of Merit decoration from the Republic of Italy. He has been named a member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta Federal Association U.S.A. (Knights of Malta).

Joe Bruno takes no credit for all he and the Bruno family have accomplished in this coun­try, where, he has said, “anyone willing to work and persevere … can make it.” Everything the Bruno family has, he continued, “comes from God …. He has blessed us all more than we deserve … and more than most … I have been the one who seems to have attracted all the atten­tion, but every one of them (the family) has contributed as much as I have.”

Source of biographical information: Joe: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Bruno Food Stores, by Pat Dunbar, (published by Joseph S. Bruno, 1983).

Paul R. Flowers, Sr.

• October 4th, 2021

When the late Dr. Paul Flowers opened his hospital in Dothan in 1950, he was not only the administrator but also served as a surgeon, bookkeeper, anesthetist, and backup cook.

Today, that 12-bed facility, originally named the Woman’s Hospital, is Flowers Hospital, a regional medical referral center for 450,000 people living within a 50-mile, 16-county radius. The hospital has 235 acute-care beds, four intensive care units (medical, surgical, cardiac care, and cardiovascular), and 38 outpatient surgery beds.

The hospital has been a catalyst for change in the Wiregrass area. The growth of Flowers Hospital has established health care as a major local industry. With more than 1200 employees, Flowers Hospital is the second largest employer in Houston County and a major supporter of the tax base.

Dr. Flowers was born in 1915 in Houston County, the son of John Jefferson Flowers, Sr., and Ila McDavid. He lived in Dothan all his life. He graduated from Dothan High School in 1933 and attended Emory University, where he later graduated from medical school. In 1941, he married Grace Dejarnette Tazewell, and the couple had seven children: Paul R. Flowers, Jr., wife Barbara; Grace F. Kiker (deceased), husband Frank; J. McDavid Flowers, wife Jeanie; Robert E. Flowers, wife Carol; Cordelia F. Boone, husband Tom; William T. Flowers, wife Carroll; and George D. Flowers, wife Laura.

He and his wife returned to Dothan in 1943 and he began his obstetrical and gynecological practice. In 1950, he converted a house on West Main Street into a small 12-bed hospital. He used his office as the emergency room and a table in the kitchen as the hospital dining quarters, with his wife, Grace, preparing many of the meals.

The hospital gradually grew, and by 1962, patient needs had exceeded the capacity of the original structure. An addition to the hospital was opened in 1963 which included a new 60-bed unit, two operating rooms, and two delivery rooms. In 1969, a three-story addition was built, adding 60 more beds.

By the summer of 1975, 40 doctors served the hospital, including two cardiologists, marking the first time physicians specifically trained in cardiology were available to the community. After more than five decades, the atmosphere of care that has long permeated the hospital is still in evidence; health care continues to be viewed as a very personal service provided to patients who are treated like family and neighbors. The same spirit that guided its tiny forbearer still fuels the heart of Flowers Hospital.

In committing to establish a cardiology program, Dr. Flowers agreed the hospital should be equipped to meet the physical needs such an undertaking would require. This meant an extensive outlay of capital in order to purchase equipment and supplies for the first cardiac catheterization laboratory in Dothan, to improve existing intensive-care facilities and monitoring capabilities; and to seek out and train qualified registered nurses and technical personnel.

In 1978, the hospital opened an 80-bed, three-story addition and signed a contract with Hospital Corporation of America to oversee the hospital’s operation, management, and planning. As the community grew, more patients were brought in, creating a need for still more doctors to care for them. By 1979, it became apparent the hospital not only needed to position itself to take advantage of this growth but also to try and stay ahead of it. The building on West Main Street had grown as much as possible. Following the advice of hospital management, Dr. Flowers decided to construct a new hospital on the western side of Dothan, in the 0direction of the city’s growth pattern.

In 1992, the Flowers family sold the hospital to Quorum Health Group, the company that had been managing it for many years. Although the ownership changed, the hospital remained a private facility. In October 2000, Quorum Health Group, Inc., signed an agreement withTriad Hospitals, Inc., for Triad to acquire Quorum.

Shortly before he died, Dr. Flowers was asked to reflect on the growth of the hospital. He replied: “I am humbly appreciative of all the many good people who have made all of this possible by the loving service they have given.” That sentiment was surely mutual.

Aubrey Derrill Crowe

• October 4th, 2021

For most of Dr. Crowe’s medical career, he was engaged in balancing a successful medical practice with building one of the largest medical malpractice insurance companies in the United States.

As a practicing urologist, in 1976, Dr. Crowe was chosen by the State Medical Association to lead a group of physicians in the development of a plan to form a malpractice insurance company.  This became necessary when all but one of the major national insurance companies left almost all Alabama physicians with the prospect of practicing medicine without liability insurance.

After unsuccessful attempts to find coverage with companies in the U.S. and Europe, Dr. Crowe and his colleagues formed the Mutual Assurance Society of Alabama (MASA) in 1976.  A key part of their strategy was the defense of every single case in which there was no negligence. At that time, the national trend was to settle most cases, and that had spawned a large number of frivolous malpractice suits, resulting in the unsafe depletion of the reserves of the companies that wrote this insurance.

Mutual Assurance was one of nearly 50 policyholder-founded companies to emerge from the turbulent liability climate in the U.S. in the seventies. They were derisively called “bedpan mutuals” by the traditional insurance industry experts who predicted that most of them would not survive (and this prediction proved true).

This was not the case for MASA, and by 1985, had paid off both its $5.5 million bank loan and the direct $2.5 million capital loans from physicians. At that time, the company had expanded through the provision of dental liability insurance and hospital liability insurance.  Under Dr. Crowe’s leadership, the company continued to prosper.

Mutual Assurance demutualized and began trading on the NASDAQ system in September 1991.  Policyholders received stock valued at $10.00 per share and the company’s market capitalization was $69 million.  In 1993, Dr. Crowe retired from the active practice of medicine to devote all his time and energy to leading the company.  In 1994, Mutual Assurance began to move outside Alabama and acquired insurance companies and books of business in West Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri while once more changing the name of the company to MAIC Holdings.  By 1996, MAIC Holdings moved to the New York Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of $129 million.  Expansion continued throughout the Southeast and Midwest.

In 2001, its merger with Professional Group, a Michigan-based insurer of similar size, was completed.  The merger resulted in the creation of ProAssurance, a New York Stock Exchange company with a market capitalization of $450 million.  The combined company is the product of 13 separate M & A transactions and employs almost 600 people.

Today, ProAssurance is the 4^th largest medical malpractice company in the United States and its market capitalization is approaching $2 billion.  Over the past 30 years since its founding, the written premium has grown from $8 million to approximately $550 million in 2007.  The company insures more than 30,000 physicians with more than 35,000 policies in force, including most physicians in private practice in the state of Alabama.

The leadership and determination of Derrill Crowe led a dedicated group of employees who adopted his vision, and in three decades, turned a single-state insurance company into a market leader that has delivered financial security and lasting value to its policyholders, shareholders, and employees.

In the 1980s, Dr. Crowe was also a leader in two revolutionary advances in Alabama healthcare.  He was instrumental in developing the first free-standing, physician-owned outpatient surgery center in Alabama (now known as the Outpatient Care Center); and he initiated outpatient treatment of kidney stones by Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy.  This treatment alternative was established in a manner that minimized the cost of care while making it readily available within a cooperative physician network throughout Alabama.

Dr. Crowe is a native of Troy, Alabama, and did undergraduate work at Howard College (now known as Samford University) in Birmingham.  He completed his graduate medical education at the University of Alabama Medical College in 1962.  Dr. Crowe completed his internship in 1963 and a surgical residency in 1964, both at Lloyd Noland Hospital in Birmingham.  He underwent residency training in Urology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, which he completed in 1967.  Dr. Crowe is also a 1990 graduate of the prestigious Owner/President Management Program at Harvard University’s School of Business.

Throughout his 40-year career, Dr. Crowe has been active in organized medicine, serving his colleagues and The Medical Association of the State of Alabama in a variety of positions including their Board of Censors and the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners among others, he was also a member of the Jefferson County Medical Society.  In early 1985, he was asked to serve as the chairman of the Alabama Certificate of Need Board.

Dr. Crowe sits on the Board of Advisors at his collegiate alma mater, Samford University, and was the commencement speaker for Samford’s 1996 graduation at which time he also received his undergraduate degree.

Dr. Crowe was honored by the Birmingham News as “CEO of the Year” for 2004 for his role in establishing ProAssurance as a leader in Alabama and the nation.  One of the judges said of him, “Derrill has line up ProAssurance against all the competition, and they have the best balance sheet, the best management, and the best reserve situation.”  In March 2008, Dr. Crowe was elected to the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame, which honored him for his work in medicine and at ProAssurance.

James R. Hudson, Jr.

• October 4th, 2021

Mr. Hudson is founder, president, and chief executive officer of Research Genetics, Inc. He is also the founder of the Hudson-Alpha Institute.

Mr. Hudson grew up in Huntsville and graduated from Huntsville High in 1960.  Prior to beginning his professional career, Hudson served as an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1967 to 1970.  During his tour of duty in Vietnam, Hudson flew many missions over North Vietnam.  Hudson’s actions during one of these missions resulted in him being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the highest honor awarded to a military aviator.

He received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from The University of Alabama as well as a master’s degree in biology from UAH.

Mr. Hudson’s business acumen was nurtured by his father.  The senior Hudson, together with sons, Jim and Gary, operated Hudson Metals which was an aluminum and gray iron foundry in Huntsville.  Jim helped elevated Hudson Metals to the most productive small foundry in the Southeast before it was sold in 1982.

Having sold Hudson Metal in 1987 and, while earning a master’s degree in biology at UAH, Mr. Hudson founded Research Genetics with an initial investment of $25,000.  While conducting research that required a piece of synthetic DNA, Hudson was appalled when he learned it would take up to four weeks to receive his order.  It took only four hours to produce DNA but his order was in line behind many others that were to be produced by a single machine.  “In that instant, I knew exactly what my business model would be.  I was going to have enough machines that I was going to ship tomorrow everything ordered today.”

Launching from that initial business model, Research Genetics became a biotech business icon.  Through thoughtful balance and key relationships with leading academic researchers, Hudson grew the world’s leader in genetic linkage products.  Research Genetics was a chief partner in the Human Genome Project, the international effort coordinated by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health, to identify the sequence of the DNA found inside human cells.

Mr. Hudson served as chief executive of Research Genetics until 2000 when he sold the company to Invitrogen in a deal valued at more than $130 million.

“Having the capital (from Research Genetics) opened a lot of doors to help biotech gain a foothold in Huntsville,” he noted.  Mr. Hudson has advised and incubated six successful biotech companies.  He is co-founder and served as the first president of the Biotechnology Association of Alabama.

In addition to his business career, Mr. Hudson has initiated a number of projects to revitalize Huntsville’s downtown area and make it enticing to young professionals.  His vision and passion toward ensuring its vibrancy have resulted in new arts venues, restaurants, and a greatly enhanced after-hours scene.

Today, Mr. Hudson is the founder and president of the Hudson-Alpha Institute for Biotechnology, a non-profit research institute that emphasizes high-throughput research tools and thrives on collaboration and cooperation of researchers in academia, industry, and government.  This not-for-profit institute uses biotechnology to improve human health, stimulate economic development, and inspire the next generation of scientists.  In a very real sense, the institute continues the work Mr. Hudson started at Research Genetics. The mission at Research Genetics was to find the latest cutting-edge tools that would accelerate research and make the findings of that research available to the rest of the world in an expedient and cost-effective manner.

With a $50 million commitment from the state, Mr. Hudson spear-headed a campaign to raise $80 million in private donations that together will create 900 direct new jobs.  Mr. Hudson’s initiative is positioning Alabama to become a worldwide leader in biotech research and one of the premier places in the nation for these high-paying jobs that can’t be exported overseas.  Governor Bob Riley has predicted that within ten years employment at the Cummings Research Park Biotech Campus (of which Hudson-Alpha Institute is the cornerstone) at close to 1,600 with a combined annual payroll of more than $83 million.

The Hudson-Alpha Institute’s new four-story, 270,000 square-foot facility, which opened in November of 2007, will initially provide accommodation for nine for-profit biotech companies, as well as institute researchers and administration.  The facility contains state-of-the-art laboratories for biotechnology research and development in the areas of genetics and personalized medicine.

Governor Bob Riley described Jim Hudson best at the announcement ceremony for the Hudson-Alpha Institute, when he said, “There’s always a driving force, one person….who has the perseverance to take a vision and turn it into a reality. You’re blessed, ladies and gentlemen, to have a person like that in your midst today.  I want to thank Jim Hudson for never backing down.”

William Michael Warren

• September 28th, 2021

William Michael (Mike) Warren, Jr. is a longtime resident of Birmingham, Alabama, but is originally from Texas. He attended high school in Auburn, Alabama, and graduated from Auburn University with honors in 1968. Three years later, he received his Juris Doctorate degree from Duke University

Warren served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force for one year, then for the next 12 years worked for Bradley, Arant, Rose & White in Birmingham, Alabama. He left in 1983 to Join Alabama Gas Corporation where he became president a year later. He became a director of Energen Corporation, the parent company, in 1986, rose through the ranks to chief executive officer and chairman. Warren led the company through a 10-year streak of expansions, transforming it from a simple utility provider to a pioneer in nontraditional natural gas extraction. Under Warren’s leadership, the energy company was one of the first to work with the state on researching and extracting coalbed methane in Alabama’s Black Warrior Basin. During his tenure, Energen’s stock outperformed the S&P 500 Index by a factor of 7 to 1.

In 2007, Warren retired from Energen and became president and CEO of Children’s of Alabama, a position that he currently holds. Warren had served on the Children’s of Alabama board for more than 20 years, serving two years as chair. While at Children’s, Warren led the hospital through a $400 million expansion of the hospital and physically connecting it to the University of Alabama at Birmingham medical facilities. He continues to be responsible for one of the organization’s most important charges-raising between $8-10 million yearly to supplement the medical costs of Alabama’s sickest children. Children’s of Alabama is currently one of the largest pediatric facilities in the United States. Warren’s other professional affiliations include past chairman of the American Gas Association, past chairman of the American Gas Foundation, past chairman of the Southern Gas Association, and past executive committee member of the Gas Technology Institute. He also has served as a board member for Protective Life Corporation, Royal Cup Coffee, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and AEGIS Insurance Services, Inc.

As for civic involvement, Warren has a long list of accomplishments under his belt. He has served as the chairman of United Way of Central Alabama, Children’s Hospital, Leadership Alabama, Leadership Birmingham, Metropolitan Development Board, Business Council of Alabama, Campaign for Alabama, Forward Alabama, Alabama Symphony Association, and the United Negro College Fund Campaign. He also served as a board member for Economic Development Partnership, Health Services Foundation Board, National Conference for Community and Justice, and president of the Birmingham Area Heart Association. He also has been involved in education, serving on the Mountain Brook School Board, Birmingham-Southern College Board of Trustees, and the UAB President’s Council.

Warren is the recipient of a plethora of prestigious awards and honors. He received most recently the Auburn Alumni Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015, the Vulcan Gamechanger Award, and the Alabama Appleseed Brewer/Torbert Award. He was named the American Heart Association Heart Ball Honoree and CEO of the Year by Birmingham News. Mike Warren was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor in 2004. He also received the Brotherhood Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice and was bestowed an Honorary Doctorate of Law degree by Birmingham-Southern College.

He is married to his high school sweetheart, Anne McLeod Warren, a University of Alabama alumna, M.S. Social Work 1983. They have a son, Bill, two daughters, Laura and Amy, and 10 grandchildren.

Dr. James Andrews

• September 28th, 2021

Doctor James R. Andrews is one of the founding members of Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center in Birmingham, Alabama, and the co-founder of the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI), a non-profit institute dedicated to injury prevention, education, and research in orthopaedic and sports medicine.

He continues to serve as Chairman of the Board and Medical Director of ASML Andrews is also a founding partner and Medical Director of the Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze, Florida. He is President and Chairman of the Board of the Andrews Research and Education Foundation.

Andrews is internationally known and recognized for his skills as an orthopaedic surgeon as well as his scientific and clinical research contributions in knee, shoulder, and elbow injury prevention and treatment. In addition, he has made major presentations around the world and has authored numerous scientific articles and books.

Andrews graduated from Louisiana State University in 1963 and completed LSU School of Medicine in 1967. He completed his orthopaedic residency at Tulane Medical School in 1972. In that year, he had surgical fellowships in sports medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and at the University of Lyon in France. He has also been awarded a Doctor of Laws Degree from Livingston University, a Doctor of Science Degree from Troy University, and a Doctor of Science Degree from Louisiana State University.

He is a member of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. He is the past President of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine and also served on that board as its Treasurer and its Secretary. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Arthroscopy Association of North America as well as the International Knee Society.

In addition to holding board member positions with multiple organizations, Andrews is also on faculty at multiple institutions, including The University of Alabama Birmingham Medical School and Tulane University School of Medicine. At present, he is the Medical Director and Orthopaedic Surgeon for Auburn University Intercollegiate Athletics and Senior Orthopaedic Consultant at The University of Alabama.

Andrew’s work extends beyond college athletics where he is Senior Consultant for the Washington Professional Football Team and Orthopaedic Medical Director for the Tampa Bay Rays Professional Baseball team. He also serves as the Medical Director of the Ladies Professional Golf Association.

Andrews has been inducted into multiple halls of fame including the Alabama and Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and the LSU Alumni Hall of Distinction. Additionally, he has been the recipient of a multitude of awards, some including the prestigious NCAA President’s Gerald R. Ford Award that honors an individual who has provided significant leadership in the role of advocate for intercollegiate athletics and has done so on a continuous basis over the course of their career.

A native of Homer, Louisiana, Doctor Andrews has called Birmingham home since 1986. He also resides part-time in Pensacola Beach, Florida. He and his wife Jenelle have six children, Andy, Amy, Archie, Ashley, Amber, Abby, and six grandchildren. In his free time, he enjoys yacht racing, which includes the “America’s Cup.”

Jay Grinney

• September 24th, 2021

Jay Grinney is the former president and chief executive officer of HealthSouth Corporation (now Encompass Health Corporation), having assumed that role in May 2004. He retired from HealthSouth in December 2016 after leading the successful turnaround of one of the nation’s largest healthcare companies. Grinney currently serves as an industry advisor to KKR, a global investment firm, and is chairman of the board of Global Medical Response, a KKR-owned patient transportation company.

After the discovery of a $2.7 billion accounting fraud orchestrated by the company’s founder, many believed HealthSouth would file for bankruptcy. The challenges facing the company were significant.  It had been delisted from the New York Stock Exchange and was under investigations by both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ); had no current, audited financial statements; was in default on its debt covenants; faced a major Class Action lawsuit; was hobbled by a bloated and inefficient corporate structure; and had lost the trust and confidence of its employees, physicians, patients, and business partners.

Upon becoming CEO Grinney recruited a first-class management team and embarked on a multiple-year turnaround. That enormous effort included restating two years of fraudulent financial statements and preparing new, audited financial statements (both of which required more than one million man-hours to achieve); reaching a $100 million settlement with the SEC, a $325 million settlement with the DOJ, and a $445 million settlement to resolve the Class Action litigation; divesting three, non-core business segments to raise $1.2 billion to help satisfy those settlements; recapitalizing its balance sheet; streamlining the company’s operating systems and strengthening its internal controls; and repositioning HealthSouth as a preeminent post-acute healthcare provider. On October 26, 2006, HealthSouth was re-listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Grinney and his team then focused on growing the company by developing hospitals in new markets and acquiring competitors, including the $730 million purchase of Reliant Health Partners. This growth continued as HealthSouth expanded into home health and hospice services with the $750 million acquisition of Encompass Home Health and Hospice in 2014, followed by the $170 million purchase of CareSouth Home Health and Hospice a year later. In 2018 the company rebranded itself as Encompass Health and is today one of the largest post-acute providers in the U.S. with approximately 43,000 employees providing care to more than 364,000 patients annually.

Prior to joining HealthSouth, Grinney was president of the Eastern Group of Hospital Corporation of America (NYSE:HCA) and before that, senior vice president at The Methodist Hospital System in Houston, Texas where he began his career.

Grinney previously served as a director of Energen Corporation, an NYSE-listed oil and gas exploration company; Envision Healthcare, a KKR-owned physician staffing and ambulatory surgery company; and Coca-Cola Bottling Company, a privately-held bottling and distribution company based in Birmingham, AL. He also served on the board of directors of the Federation of American Hospitals, including a term as its Chairman.

He has been active in civic organizations, serving on the boards of directors of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, the United Way of Central Alabama, and the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama.

Grinney earned a Bachelor of Arts from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota; and both a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Healthcare Administration from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

He and his wife Melanie reside in Mountain Brook, Alabama.  He has three children, Naomi Grinney, Rachel Emami, and Matthew Grinney, and seven grandchildren.

Joseph Linyer Bedsole

• September 9th, 2021

Joseph Linyer Bedsole was known for his resourcefulness and keen business skills.

As a merchant in the New South, Bedsole was partly responsible for salvaging two Alabama cities. Educated at South Alabama Bible Institute and a small business college in Montgomery, Bedsole began work at his father’s store in Thomasville. In 1910, he married Phala Bradford. By 1913, the store had become a department store, and the volume of business had increased dramatically. Bedsole initiated three dramatic steps to change the economic base of Thomasville. He established a factory and a scrap iron yard and introduced citizens to the hog and sheep industry. As a result of Bedsole’s dedication and innovation, the area and community prospered along with the Bedsole firms. In 1919, Bedsole moved to Mobile where he organized and became president of Bedsole-Colvin Drug Company. Bedsole also founded Bedsole Investment Company, Mobile Fixture and Equipment Company, Bedsole Trading Company, and Bedsole Surgical Supply Company. Due to his extraordinary success, Bedsole was called to aid the city of Mobile in recovering from $1.5 million in indebtedness on its municipal bonds. After three grueling years, the committee on which Bedsole served devised a plan that saved the city. Bedsole served as director of First National Bank of Mobile and Alabama Power Company. In his lifetime, he contributed more than $1.5 million for the improvement of the state. He was named Mobile Man of the Year in 1951.