Hon. Beth Chapman ’84 received the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award, which is the University of Montevallo National Alumni Association’s highest annual honor, at their annual luncheon Feb. 11 in Anna Irvin Dining Hall.
Chapman, a native of Greenville, Alabama, and a Hoover resident, is a member of the University’s Board of Trustees and served two terms as the state of Alabama’s 51st secretary of state upon her election in 2006.
“Truly I belonged (at the University of Montevallo),” Chapman said, “and I’m so grateful that I still do. The University of Montevallo equipped, enabled and empowered me to be able to live what we know as ‘The American Dream.’”
Chapman was the first woman in the state to serve as a cabinet member as appointments secretary for a governor and later as press secretary for a lieutenant governor. She was elected state auditor in January 2002.
As secretary of state, Chapman received more votes than any constitutional officer in state history. She helped create online business filings, the office’s first voter fraud task force and the development of electronic military voting.
One of Chapman’s many nominators for the award said she is highly regarded for her skill in leading and working with others to make a difference.
“Beth advocates for Montevallo at every opportunity and is one of the University’s most well-known ambassadors,” a nominator wrote.
Chapman received her bachelor’s degree in communication from UM and earned a master’s degree in education from The University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1990. She is a 1996 graduate of Princeton University’s Women Executives in State Government Management Institute and a 2013 graduate of Harvard University’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government.
Chapman retired from public office in 2013 and owns and operates Beth Chapman & Associates, LLC, a political and public relations consulting firm.
Chapman was the first recipient of the UMNAA Nathalie Molton Gibbons Young Achiever’s Award in 1997.
