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.
