Singer Lionel Richie, EJI Founder Bryan Stevenson Among Those Inducted into Alabama Academy of Honor
FILE – Lionel Ritchie (Photo by Wade Payne/Invision/AP)
The Alabama Academy of Honor induction ceremony took place at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Montgomery.
The Alabama Academy of Honor bestows honor upon Alabamians for their accomplishments and service that reflect great credit on the state. In total, 9 people were inducted at the ceremony.
One of those people being famous singer and Tuskegee native, Lionel Richie. Although he could not make the ceremony, Lionel Richie thanked the academy through a video message.
This year’s ceremony welcomed both the classes of 2020 and 2021. Governor Kay Ivey gave the welcome address.
The Class of 2020 honorees include Governor Kay Ivey’s outgoing chief of staff and former Congressman Jo Bonner, Maj. Gen. J. Gary Cooper, USMC (ret.), and Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson.
Class of 2021 honorees are U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Huntsville attorney Julian Butler, the Honorable John H. England Jr., former Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn A. Hewson, Grammy-award-winning recording artist Lionel Richie, and UAB’s Senior Vice President of Medicine Dr. Selwyn M. Vickers. Both Secretary Austin and Richie will give their comments via video.
Established in 1965, the Academy bestows honor and recognition upon living Alabamians for their outstanding accomplishments and service to the state and the nation. Membership is limited to 100 distinguished Alabamians and all of Alabama’s living governors. In the course of the Academy’s history, more than 260 members have been elected, recognizing men and women from a wide variety of backgrounds and areas of achievement.
