The Alabama Academy of Honor, established in 1965, recently celebrated its first class that features all women.
The academy bestows honor and recognition upon Alabamians for accomplishments and service benefiting or reflecting great credit on the state. The membership is limited to 100 living Alabamians, plus all of the state’s living governors. New classes are inducted each year.
This year’s inductees are:
Gov. Kay Ivey, a graduate of Auburn, who in 2002 became the first Republican elected State Treasurer since Reconstruction. She was elected lieutenant governor in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014. She was sworn in as governor in April 2017.
Deborah Edwards Barnhart is chief executive officer and executive director of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. Her career spans four decades of service in commercial industry, government, aerospace and defense.
Cynthia Tucker Haynes of Monroeville has had a distinguished newspaper career, including winning the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2007. She was a columnist and editorial page editor for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and now writes a syndicated newspaper column and blog.
Catherine Sloss Jones of Birmingham was born into the family that built Sloss Furnaces and is today president and CEO of Sloss Real Estate, a family-owned firm. She’s a recognized civic leader and in 2000 created the not-for-profit Market at Pepper Place, an award-winning farmers’ market that supports small farmers and artisans.
