Governor Albert Brewer was the founder and long-time Chairman of the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama.

Each year, the PARCA Annual Forum concludes with the Governor Brewer Legacy Lunch and an address from the current Governor. The lunch remembers Governor Brewer’s spirit of public service and calls current and future public leaders to honor his example.

About Governor Brewer

Former Alabama Governor Albert P. Brewer served as Alabama’s Governor from 1968 to 1971.

Governor Brewer served as a member of the State Legislature for three terms and as Speaker of the House of Representatives during 1963-1967 before being elected Lieutenant Governor in 1966.

He became Governor on May 7, 1968, after the death of Governor Lurleen Wallace.

As Governor, he was selected to serve on the Executive Committee of the National Governor’s Conference and was Chairman of the Appalachian Regional Commission, a body comprised of the governors of 13 Appalachian states.

Education was the focal point of Governor Brewer’s administration. He oversaw the largest increase in appropriations for public schools in Alabama history to date, the creation of the Education Study Commission, the creation of the Commission on Higher Education, a shift to an elected State Board of Education, and an appointed state superintendent.

Governor Brewer’s administration saw the construction of more miles of highway than any previous administration; the creation of the first Ethics Commission, the forerunner of the present body, and the creation of the Constitutional Revision Commission, whose recommendations have served as the foundation for constitutional revision in Alabama.

One of the highlights of his administration was the creation of the Alabama Development Office, a cabinet-level department to coordinate planning and industrial development in Alabama.

Following his time in office, Governor Brewer returned to his hometown of Decatur, Alabama, where he practiced law. In 1987, he accepted an appointment as Distinguished Professor of Law and Government at Samford University, where he taught government and law at the undergraduate level in Samford’s Cumberland School of Law.

Governor Brewer died in January 2017.