Nick Saban among 7 people to be inducted into Alabama Business Hall of Fame

A group of seven business leaders across the state of Alabama will be honored by the Alabama Business Hall of Fame later this year, including retired football coach Nick Saban.

The hall of fame says the inductees have brought lasting fame to the state through different business contributions. The full list includes:

• Rob Burton
• Raymond Harbert
• Thomas Harris
• Marnix Heersink
• Thomas Lowder
• Claude Nielsen
• Nick Saban

Keep reading to find out more about each inductee + when they will officially be inducted into the state’s Business Hall of Fame.

Information provided by the Alabama Business Hall of Fame.

Rob Burton

Rob Burton started working at Hoar Construction for his father to learn the family business at the age of 13. After graduating from Auburn with a degree in building science, Burton returned to the company and was named president in 1996 + CEO in 2001.

Under Burton’s leadership, Hoar projects included ones in healthcare, entertainment, higher education, government and more while doubling the company’s revenue in the first 10 years of his leadership.

A passionate supporter of Birmingham and the greater community, Burton has served on boards of various organizations, including The Birmingham Business Alliance and the Birmingham Zoo. He is currently chairman of the board at The Hope Institute, which helps schools cultivate the character of students.

Raymond Harbert

Raymond J. Harbert is the CEO of one of the largest alternative asset investment management firms in the Southeast.

After graduating from Auburn University, Harbert went to work for Harbert International, Inc., the company his father founded and built over a span of four decades. In 1990, Harbert was promoted to president and CEO of Harbert Corporation.

Harbert serves on the boards and executive committees of the Robert Meyer Foundation, Children’s of Alabama, Birmingham Business Alliance and is chairman of the Newcomen Society of Alabama. He is also a trustee emeritus of Auburn University, where the College of Business is named for him.

Thomas Harris

Thomas A. Harris is an investment banker and entrepreneur who has founded several successful ventures including:

• Merchant Capital
• Birmingham Recovery Center
• Longleaf Wellness and Recovery
• Alabama Black Belt Adventures

Harris was also recently named to the national board of directors for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. In 2019, he was named Alabama Wildlife Governor’s Conservationist of the Year. Harris serves on numerous boards, including the Alabama Wildlife Federation and Junior Achievement of Alabama.

Dr. Marnix Heersink

Born in the Netherlands, Heersink earned his bachelor’s and medical degrees at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. Following a surgical internship in Montreal and an ophthalmology residency and an anterior segment surgery fellowship, both in Philadelphia, he and his wife, Mary, moved to Dothan, where he helped found Eye Center South in 1978.

He has helped lead several research studies with the Trinity Research Group in Dothan since 2016. He is also a fellow and member of several professional organizations including:

• American Academy of Ophthalmology
• International College of Surgeons
• American College of Surgeons
• American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery
• The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons

Recently, the family made transformative gifts to two universities: University of Alabama at Birmingham, which named its medical school the Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine, and McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Heersink has also lectured internationally and has served or serves on numerous nonprofit boards.

Thomas Lowder

After graduating with honors from Auburn University with a Bachelor of Science degree, Lowder assumed the leadership role at his family business, Colonial Properties Trust, in 1976.

Lowder took the business public in 1993. After 20 years as a public company, Colonial Properties merged with Mid-America Apartment Communities in 2013 and later Post Properties, Inc. to create one of the largest and most successful apartment real estate investment trusts on the NYSE with a market capitalization over $16 billion.

Lowder serves or has served as a member or chair of several boards including:

• Children’s of Alabama
• University of Alabama Health Services Foundation
• National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts
• Quarterbacking Children’s Health Foundation
• Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham
• American Red Cross
• United Way of Central Alabama, among others.

Claude B. Nielsen

After earning a bachelor’s degree in business from Sewanee and an MBA from the University of Virginia, Nielsen joined Coca-Cola in 1979. He held a variety of operational and managerial positions in the company until he was named CEO in 1991. He was later named chairman of the board of directors in 2003.

Nielsen has served as a board member and chairman of the American Beverage Association, the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation and The Coca-Cola Bottlers’ Association.

Nielsen was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor in 2016 and into the Birmingham Business Hall of Fame in 2022.

Nick Saban

Saban, who retired in January, will add this honor to a growing list of accolades that most recently included the ESPY Icon Award + having the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium named after him.

After playing defensive back at Kent State University, he graduated in 1973 with a bachelor’s in business, then in 1975, from the same university, with a master’s in sports administration.

Saban now works as an analyst for the nationally televised ESPN College GameDay. He is also co-owner of Dream Motor Corp., which operates automotive dealerships.

Along with his wife, Terry, Saban co-founded Nick’s Kids, a charitable organization that has donated over $14 million to support children, teacher and student causes throughout Alabama and beyond.

Want more like this in your inbox? Subscribe to our free newsletter for all the latest buzz!