Merritt inducted into Birmingham Business Hall of Fame

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Judy Merritt served as president of Jefferson State Community College for almost 35 years, and her legacy as a leader in the community continues to result in accolades eight years after her death in 2014.

Merritt, who lived in Chelsea at the time of her death and whose vision led to the opening of Jeff State’s Shelby-Hoover campus in 1993, was one of six people inducted into the Birmingham Business Hall of Fame at an event at The Fennec in Birmingham on Aug. 25, three of whom are now deceased.

Others inducted into the Hall of Fame were:

► Kirkwood Balton, Booker T. Washington Insurance Co. (deceased)

► Thomas Jernigan, Marathon Corp. (deceased)

► Claude Nielsen, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. United

► David Wood II, Wood Fruitticher Grocery Co.

► John Wood, Wood Fruitticher Grocery Co.

Guin Robinson, the dean of economic development for Jeff State, nominated Merritt for the Hall of Fame, which was created by the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham to honor people who have shown strong leadership and made extraordinary contributions to the greater Birmingham area.

Robinson said he was very excited the Hall of Fame Committee selected Merritt for induction but not surprised.

Merritt was a woman with many firsts in her life, he said.

She was the first woman appointed as a two-year college president in Alabama (by former Gov. Fob James in 1979), and in 1993 she became the first woman to serve as chair of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce.

In the early 1980s, she became the first female on the board of directors for the Bruno’s grocery store chain, and she followed that in 1993 by becoming the first female board member for Energen Corp. She also was the only female board member for the SouthTrust banking company.

“She was a remarkable individual,” Robinson said. “What a legacy, what a mark Judy made.”

She was a remarkable individual. What a legacy, what a mark Judy made.

Guin Robinson

It wasn’t just that she held these positions that made her remarkable; it’s what she did with them, Robinson said.

For starters, the world of postsecondary education is big business, he said.

Merritt had the vision to expand Jeff State beyond Jefferson County’s borders. When she became president at Jeff State, there was only one campus in the northeast part of Birmingham. Under Merritt’s leadership the college expanded into Shelby, St. Clair and Chilton counties. More than 5,000 students attend the Shelby-Hoover campus off Valleydale Road.

Second, Merritt was very smart, Robinson said. “She had one of the most strategic minds of anyone I’ve ever known.”

She had an ability to identify opportunities in problems and develop a plan to deal with them, which are the same skills used in business, Robinson said. She also had an incredible ability to understand people’s talents and place them in positions where those talents could best be used, he said.

It was Merritt who brought Robinson, a former mayor of Pell City, to work at Jeff State in 2006, handling community and government relations.

Merritt also had a passion for serving other people, Robinson said. “Judy Merritt was servant leadership in action every day,” he said.

Even though she had a doctorate, she disliked being called Dr. and insisted people refer to her simply as “Judy.” And while she appreciated the thought behind awards she received because they helped advance the college, she didn’t like to focus on the awards and sent most plaques down a hallway into a storage area, Robinson said.

Merritt didn’t have any children and considered the students at Jeff State her children and focused her energy on helping advance the lives of others, he said.

Merritt was born in Jacksonville, Alabama, and was the only daughter of two longtime educators. Her father, Lawrence Miles, was dean of admissions at Jacksonville State University. Her mother, Beatrice Davis Miles, was a teacher.

Merritt entered the University of Alabama at age 16. She was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority and an active leader in campus activities, but it was at the university where she met Thomas Merritt Jr., who would become her husband. She would later earn both her master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Alabama.

Merritt began her career as a counselor of admissions at then Jefferson State Junior College in 1965, the opening year of the college. She often remarked this was her favorite job because it allowed her direct interaction with students. She and her husband then moved to Miami, Florida, where she served as the vice president of student affairs at Florida International University.

After being appointed president at Jeff State in 1979, she was very active in a variety of regional and national organizations. She served on the board of directors of the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges and on the executive council of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. She also served on the board of the Business Council of Alabama and was associated with many community and civic organizations.

Since her death, the annual Judy M. Merritt 5K Memorial 5K has helped to honor her legacy by providing scholarships for students in need.

Merritt now is one of 131 members of the Birmingham Business Hall of Fame.

Birmingham is arguably the economic engine for the state of Alabama, said Honora Gathings, executive director for the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham.

“So much incredible work has been done here,” Gathings said. “This is a community that is steeped with so much history. We really wanted to make sure that those whose backs we now stand on were being honored for their contributions. We hear these stories, and it really shows us what a tight-knit community we are in, and how all of our actions have this ripple effect. We don’t realize how far our actions go in benefiting and making the lives of other people better.”

Here's a bit more about the other new inductees this year:

Kirkwood Balton

Balton, born in 1935 in Birmingham, was a former chairman and CEO of Booker T. Washington Insurance Co. and the founder of J&B Medical Supply and J&B Management and Electric Supply, both named for his wife, Juanita Balton. Balton earned his bachelor's degree at Miles College in 1957 and began working for A. G. Gaston two years later. He went on to earn a master's degree in business administration at Samford University in 1970 and rose within Gaston's business to manage WENN-FM and become chairman and CEO of Gaston's insurance company before he retired in 2001.

Thomas Jernigan

Jernigan, born in 1928 in Atmore, was the founder and CEO of the Marathon Corp. He grew up on a farm near Frisco City in Monroe County and served in the U. S. Air Force for two years during World War II before moving to Birmingham and starting his career developing playground equipment. Jernigan founded several companies during his career, including Plantation Patterns, United Chair Co., Quick Marts and Winston Furniture. Jernigan was one of the founding directors of the Central Bank and Trust Co. (formerly Compass Bank and now PNC) and a director of Superior Bank.

Claude Nielsen

Nielsen, an Evergreen native, earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Sewanee: The University of the South in 1973 and his master’s degree from the University of Virginia in 1975. Nielsen joined Coca-Cola Bottling Co. United in 1979 and held a variety of operational and managerial positions until 1991, when he was appointed CEO. He assumed the additional role of chairman in 2003. In 2016, he retired as CEO while continuing to serve as chairman. Nielsen served as chairman of the American Beverage Association and The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation. He also served on the board of governors of The Coca-Cola Bottlers' Association.

David Wood II

David Wood II assumed the leadership of Wood Fruitticher, along with his brother, John, at a young age after the death of their father. At the time, the company made around $10 million in annual sales. They grew the company the next 38 years to $400 million in annual sales. Wood II is a graduate of Lead Birmingham and in the current class of Leadership Alabama. He has served the Birmingham Airport Authority, Boy Scouts of America and Food Bank of Central Alabama. Since retirement, he has flown more than 60 flights for the Veterans Airlift Command organization that flies wounded veterans to and from hospitals around the country for treatments they need.

John Wood

John Wood, David’s brother, retired from Wood Fruitticher in 2017. He is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham and has served in leadership positions in the Presbyterian Church of America. When he is not advising the fourth generation of ownership at Wood Fruitticher, he can be found spending time with the fifth generation, which consists of 19 grandchildren.