The following biographical sketch was compiled at the time of induction into the Academy in August 2004 and was updated in 2018.

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For the past ten years, William Michael Warren, Jr., has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Children’s of Alabama, the State’s only freestanding pediatric hospital.  He led the $400 million construction of the Benjamin Russell Hospital for Children.

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Mr. Warren, the oldest of six sons, moved to Alabama at the age of seven.  He grew up in Auburn where he and his wife, Anne, were in the same sixth grade class.  He graduated with honors from Auburn University and was elected to Phi Kappa Phi.  After graduating from Duke University School of Law, he began practicing with Bradley, Arant, Rose & White in 1971.  In 1983, Mr. Warren joined Energen, becoming president of Alabama Gas Corporation in 1984 and president of Energen in 1991. From February 1997 until December 2007, Warren was chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Energen Corporation.

 

Under Mr. Warren’s leadership, Alabama Gas Corporation was recognized as one of the leading natural gas distribution utilities in the country.  Alagasco was recognized by author Robert Levering and later by Fortune magazine as one of “The Best 100 Companies to Work for in America.”  Energen Resources was among the top twenty onshore producers of oil and natural gas and the largest developer of coalbed methane in Alabama’s Black Warrior Basin.  Mr. Warren has served as chairman of the Southern Gas Association and the American Gas Association, the national natural gas utility trade organization.

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Mr. Warren has served as chairman of the Business Council of Alabama, the United Way, Leadership Birmingham, Children’s Hospital, and Leadership Alabama.  He has also been chairman of the Metropolitan Development Board, the Alabama Symphony, and the area American Heart Association. He twice served as general campaign chairman for United Way and also chaired the United Negro College Fund.  He is a member of the board of Protective Life Corporation, Royal Cup Coffee and Blue CrossBlue Shield of Alabama.

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Mr. Warren is past chairman of the Administrative Board of Canterbury United Methodist Church where he and his family have been members for over 40 years. He is married to Anne McLeod Warren, and they have three children and ten grandchildren.