Three Alabamians on Monday joined the hallowed ranks of the Alabama Academy of Honor at the latest induction ceremony.
The Alabama Academy of Honor, established in 1965, bestows honor and recognition upon Alabamians for accomplishments and service benefiting or reflecting great credit on the state. Membership is limited to 100 living Alabamians plus all of the state’s living governors.
The three new inductees who joined the ranks Monday are civil rights activist Bernard LaFayette Jr., former Mobile mayor Sandy Stimpson and UAB president Ray Watts.
“One offered unparalleled leadership in public service, another furthered life-saving medical research, while the third bravely pursued freedom and civil rights,” said Gov. Kay Ivey.
Bernard LaFayette Jr.
Bernard LaFayette Jr. of Tampa Florida is one of the 21 student Freedom Riders who arrived at the Montgomery Greyhound bus station on May 20, 1961 and were attacked by an angry mob. He survived the attack and went on to Jackson, Mississippi where he was arrested on a charge of “breach of peace” and spent 40 days in the infamous Parchmen Prison.
Once out of prison, LaFayette Jr. remained in Jackson and worked in the Civil Rights movement throughout his life, working on numerous campaigns with he Southern Christian Leadership Conference, including Selma, in 1963 and 1965, and serving as national coordinator for the Poor People’s Campaign in 1968.
“It is beyond my imagination to receive such an honor—especially in Alabama,” LaFayette reflected upon his induction.
Sandy Stimpson
William “Sandy” Stimpson, s lifelong Mobilian, has dedicated his career to community service in the private sector and in public office. Simpson began his career at Gulf Lumber Company, where he spent three decades, ultimately becoming executive vice president of Scotch and Gulf Lumber. In 2013, Stmipson won election to the first of three terms as mayor of Mobile. The Stimpson administration helped transform Mobile’s financial position, spurring economic development and investment in critical infrastructure. The city also grew through annexation, paid down millions in debt service and advanced transformational projects like the Mobile Arena, the Mobile International Airport and the activation of the downtown riverfront.
Stimpson has also served on the boards of powerful groups such as the Business Council of Alabama, the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce and the Alabama Policy Institute. He is a founding member of the Partners for Environmental Progress and Prichard Preparatory School.
Ray Watts
Ray Watts, a Birmingham native, is the longest -serving president of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Watts earned his Bachelor’s degree from UAB in engineering in 1976, where an elective course in biomedical engineering sparked an interest in neurology that led to medical school and ultimately a career in patient care, research and leadership of a globally renowned research university and academic medical center.
Watts returned home to Alabama in 2003 as the John N. Whitaker Chair of Neurology at UAB. He became senior vice president and dean of medicine in 2010, and in 2013 was named president of UAB by unanimous vote of the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees. As president, he has led with campus- and community-wide collaboration and development of comprehensive strategic plans.
During Watts’ nearly 13-year tenure, UAB has made unprecedented strides in enrollment, nationally ranked academic programs and access to higher education for first generation students. Annual research expenditures increased 68 percent over the past 10 years and UAB’s economic impact on Alabama exceeded $12.1 billion annually. UAB Hospital became the eight-largest hospital in the U.S.
