Four Auburn alumni elected to Alabama Business Hall of Fame

Four alumni of Auburn University have recently been elected to the Alabama Business Hall of Fame class of 2024.

Rob Burton of Birmingham, Alabama (Building Science ’79); Raymond J. Harbert of Birmingham, Alabama (Business ’82); Thomas A. Harris of Hope Hull, Alabama (Business ‘71); and Thomas H. Lowder of Birmingham, Alabama (Business ‘72) will be among seven honorees to be inducted in a Nov. 14 ceremony.

Established in 1973, the Alabama Business Hall of Fame honors individuals who have brought recognition to the state of Alabama through their business contributions.

Rob Burton

Burton is CEO of Hoar Holdings. He started working at Hoar Construction for his father (then president Bob Burton) to learn the family business at the age of 13. After graduating from Auburn with a degree in building science, Burton again entered the company and held positions of increasing responsibility until he was named president in 1996 and CEO in 2001. Under Burton’s leadership, Hoar Construction diversified, opening offices in several states and tackling larger and more complex projects—including ones in health care, entertainment, higher education, government and more — while doubling the company’s revenue in the first 10 years of his leadership. Additionally, in 1997 Burton established a now top 25 ranked national program management company, HPM, that offers design and construction expertise to institutions and companies around the country. In 2021, the company launched RPI Rentals, a construction equipment rental, materials and supplies company with offices in Alabama and Texas. Hoar Construction, HPM and RPI Rentals have all been repeatedly certified as a Great Place to Work.

A passionate supporter of Birmingham and the greater community, Burton has served on boards of various organizations, including The Birmingham Business Alliance, the Birmingham Zoo, Lakeshore Foundation, Protective Life and American Contractors Insurance Group, among others. He is currently chairman of the board at The Hope Institute, which helps schools cultivate the character of students. Burton founded Hoar Community Foundation in 2004, a fund that has donated millions to charities that further the firm’s core values in areas where employees live and work.

Burton and his wife, Nancy, have four children and nine grandchildren. 

Raymond J. Harbert

Harbert is the founder, chairman and CEO of Harbert Management Corporation, one of the largest alternative asset investment management firms in the Southeast. Harbert’s lifelong entrepreneurial pursuits began early in life at age 15 when he founded Penbryn Hill Catering, which he ran throughout his high school years.

After graduating from Auburn with a Bachelor of Science in industrial management, Harbert went to work for Harbert International, Inc., the construction subsidiary of Harbert Corporation, and the company his father, John Harbert, had founded and built over a span of four decades. In 1990, at age 31, Harbert was promoted to president and CEO of Harbert Corporation, which was a multi-billion-dollar diversified conglomerate. In 1993, Harbert launched Harbert Management Corporation, the first multi alternative asset investment management firm in Alabama. Today, HMC manages 10 different investment strategies from eight U.S. and four European offices with over $8 billion of assets under management.

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, where the College of Business is named for him. He previously served on the board of the Alabama Trust Fund and is a past member of Leadership Alabama. In 2006, Harbert was awarded the regional Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Financial Services, and he was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor in 2015.

Harbert and his wife, Kathryn Harbert, are active philanthropists, having made significant gifts both in time and capital to numerous organizations including Auburn University, Red Mountain Theatre, Children’s of Alabama, University of Alabama at Birmingham and United Way of Central Alabama, where they were awarded the United Way Tocqueville Society Award in 2018. They have three children and nine grandchildren. 

Thomas A. Harris

Harris is an investment banker and entrepreneur who has founded several successful ventures. After graduating from Auburn in 1971 with a business degree, Harris worked for First Alabama Bankshares as head of national accounts and business development. In 1987, he was a founder and president of Merchant Capital, a leading investment banking firm based in Montgomery, with offices throughout the Southeast. Merchant Capital was acquired by Stifel Nicolaus Financial Corp. in 2014. Harris served as senior managing director at Stifel Nicolaus until 2022. In 2021, he founded Birmingham Recovery Center and Longleaf Wellness and Recovery Centers, which provides treatment for substance use and mental health disorders with four facilities across Alabama. In 2023, he partnered in launching YHN Media Group, LLC, which owns several Alabama-based media outlets.

An avid conservationist, Harris founded and serves as president of Alabama Black Belt Adventures, a nonprofit organization committed to promoting outdoor recreation and tourism opportunities in the Alabama Black Belt region. He was recently named to the national board of directors for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever and in 2019 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.

Harris and his wife, Cindy, have four children and seven grandchildren.

Thomas H. Lowder

Lowder is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Colonial Properties Trust, a New York Stock Exchange-listed, multifamily-focused real estate investment trust, with commercial assets in the Sunbelt region of the United States. After graduating with honors from Auburn with a bachelor of science degree, Lowder assumed the leadership role at the family business, Colonial Properties Trust, in 1976. Lowder took the business public in 1993. With Lowder as CEO, the company grew from $475 million in total market capitalization to $5.3 billion before he retired from active management in 2006. Lowder returned three years later as CEO, in December 2008, to lead the company after the financial recession and Wall Street crisis. 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 continues to serve on the board of Mid-America Apartment Communities.

Active in his community and beyond, Lowder serves or has served as a member or chair of several boards, including Children’s Hospital of Alabama, the University of Alabama Health Services Foundation, the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, Quarterbacking Children’s Health Foundation, the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, the American Red Cross and United Way of Central Alabama, among others. Lowder and his wife, Susan, who he married in 2012, are active in philanthropic efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer’s, ALS and other neurological diseases, which took the lives of each of their previous spouses.

Lowder has three daughters and Susan has three sons.

Marnix E. Heersink of Dothan, Alabama; Claude B. Nielsen of Birmingham, Alabama; and Nick L. Saban of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will also be inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame class of 2024.