The following biographical sketch was compiled at the time of induction into the Academy in 1996.
Selma in Dallas County, Alabama, is the birthplace of Thomas Elred Bradford, Jr.,
the son of Thomas Elread Bradford, Sr. and Mary Johnson Bradford. Tom
Bradford is a graduate of Ramsey High School in Birmingham. Having completed
this important part of his schooling, he entered college at Washington and Lee
University from which he graduated four years later summa cum laude. His high
marks also entitled him to membership in Phi Beta Kappa honorary fraternity.
Tom Bradford, Jr.'s courtship of Mary Anne Taylor was successful, and the
Bradfords are parents of one daughter and two sons. Their grandchildren number
seven.
Tom Bradford, Jr., is chairman of the Board of Bradford & Co., Inc. and president
of Sunbelt Sweeteners, Inc. Under his leadership, Bradford & Co., a food
brokerage firm, has grown from nine employees to more than a hundred, serving
six states.
The demands on his time from his own affairs have not kept him from sharing his
leadership abilities with other economic endeavors in the community which have
invited him to become a member of their Boards of Directors. He is a member of the
Board of Directors of SouthTrust Bank of Alabama and Briarwood Christian
School. He also served as an elder of Briarwood Presbyterian Church as well as
being a Sunday school teacher and member of the choir.
His willingness to pay his civic duties has involved him in many ventures
established for the good of the inhabitants of the area in which he lives and works.
He answers the calls for service from the Chamber of Commerce, the Boy Scouts of
America, Camp Fire Girls, United Way, Rotary Club, and Campus Crusade for
Christ. He is currently Chairman of the Board of the United Way of Central
Alabama. In 1989, he helped found and then served five years as Chairman of the
Board for The Alabama Family Alliance, a public policy research and education "think tank."
Tom Bradford is a firm believer in one's duty to one's family. He believes that the
family that worships together stays together.
