Veteran Alabama Congressman Tom Bevill and technology entrepreneur Mark C. Smith are the 2010 inductees in the Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame. The two will be honored during the annual induction luncheon Sept. 21 at 11:30 a.m. at The Club in Birmingham.
Tickets are $28. Advance reservations can be made by calling (205) 879-0650.
Founded by the Alabama legislature in 1987, the hall recognizes men “whose lives have impacted the state, the nation and the world.” Honorees must have been deceased for at least two years. Hall board members represent Alabama’s seven congressional districts, and the Birmingham Women’s Committee of 100 sponsors the annual induction luncheon.
Bevill (1921-2005) was Alabama’s longest-serving congressman and was so skilled at acquiring project funds for the entire state that he often was called Alabama’s “third senator.” He was elected to represent Alabama’s 4th Congressional District in 1966 and served for more than 30 years.
After his 30-year public career, Bevill returned to his law practice in Jasper. He studied business at the University of Alabama. After serving in the U.S. Army and taking part in the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II, Bevill returned to the university for his law degree.
As chairman of the U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Bevill influenced many of the major energy and resource management programs of his day, including the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.
He will be presented by his daughter, Susan Bevill Livingston.
The son of teachers, Smith (1940-2007) excelled as a student in the Birmingham city schools and earned an electrical engineering degree from Georgia Tech. He returned to Alabama for his first professional job in Huntsville and began to realize that the merger of telephone and computer technologies could revolutionize the transmission of data.
Smith created Alabama’s first data communication company, Universal Data Systems, Inc., in 1969. After selling UDS to Motorola, he cofounded ADTRAN with close friend Lonnie McMillian in 1985 and further expanded the boundaries of digital data transmission. Today, ADTRAN is considered a leading global networking and equipment provider with more than $480 million in annual revenues.
He also was actively involved in the Huntsville community through educational, philanthropic and cultural organizations.
Smith will be presented by Thomas R. Stanton, ADTRAN CEO and board chairman.
Since its founding, 43 men have been inducted into the Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame, which is housed in Samford University’s Harwell G. Davis Library.