Bernard Andrew Monaghan Jr. (1916–1987) was United States General Counsel of the Army from 1952 to 1953 and Chief Executive Officer of Vulcan Materials Company from 1959 to 1981.

Biography

Bernard A. Monaghan was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on January 28, 1916, son of Bernard Andrew Monaghan Sr. and Mary Frances (Jackson) Monaghan. He was educated at Birmingham–Southern College, receiving a B.A. in 1934. During his time there, he was affiliated with

Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters and colonies in the United Stat ...

. He then attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, receiving an LL.B. in 1937. He was admitted to the bar of Alabama in 1937. Monaghan then studied at Oxford University as a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

, receiving a second B.A. in 1939. In 1939, Monaghan returned to Birmingham, joining a

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

that is the predecessor firm of Bradley Arant Rose & White (which would eventually merge and become Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP). During World War II, Monaghan served in the United States Marine Corps as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. After the war, he returned to his law firm, becoming a partner in the firm in 1948. In 1952, he took a leave of absence from the firm to serve as General Counsel of the Army, holding that post from August 26, 1952, until August 14, 1953. He then returned to his Birmingham law practice. He also remained active in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, eventually attaining the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. In 1958, one of Monaghan's clients, Vulcan Materials Company, asked Monaghan to join their company as executive vice president. After a year as executive vice president, in 1959 Monaghan became president and chief executive officer of Vulcan Materials. He held this position until 1981. Under Monaghan's leadership, Vulcan Materials grew dramatically, eventually becoming a Forbes 500 company.

References

*
"Alabama Business Hall of Fame to Induct Five New Members; Time-Warner’s Don Logan to Deliver Keynote Address", ''UA News'', Oct. 1, 2004
1916 births 1987 deaths General Counsels of the United States Army Lawyers from Birmingham, Alabama People from Mountain Brook, Alabama Birmingham–Southern College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Alumni of New College, Oxford American Rhodes Scholars United States Marines United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II Alabama lawyers 20th-century American lawyers {{Law-bio-stub