Alvah Herman Chapman Jr. (March 21, 1921 – December 25, 2008) was an American newspaper publisher who served at the helm of ''

The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe countie ...

'' and as chairman of the

Knight Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. It was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, allowing the latter to become the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States at the time ...

newspaper division.

Biography

Chapman was born in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee ...

on March 21, 1921. His family owned the R. W. Page Corporation, which owned the ''

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer The ''Ledger-Enquirer'' is a newspaper headquartered in downtown Columbus, Georgia, in the United States. It was founded in 1828 as the ''Columbus Enquirer'' by Mirabeau B. Lamar who later played a pivotal role in the founding of the Republic o ...

'' among other publications. His father was chosen as publisher of '' The Bradenton Evening Herald'', and he moved to Florida with his family when he was five years old. He was editor of the student yearbook and quarterback on the football team in high school.McFadden, Robert D
"Alvah H. Chapman Jr., Civic-Minded Leader of Knight Ridder, Dies at 87"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', December 27, 2008. Accessed December 29, 2008. He attended

The Citadel The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

, graduating with a business degree in 1942; at the age of 19 he was named Regimental Commander, the highest-ranking member of the Corps of Cadets. He endowed the Alvah H. Chapman chair in business management at his alma mater in 1989. During World War II he served as a

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

pilot with the 401st Bomb Group based at

RAF Deenethorpe Royal Air Force Deenethorpe or more simply RAF Deenethorpe is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Corby, Northamptonshire, England. It has one remaining tarmac runway at 1200m (3937ft) long. United States Army Air Forces use ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

flying 37 missions over Europe. By age 23 he was Commander of the 614th Bomb Squadron; during one mission in which two of his plane's four engines caught fire, he was able to land his plane safely. Chapman received three awards of the Distinguished Flying Cross and six

Air Medals The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establi ...

Newspapers and publishing

After returning from military service, Chapman was hired by the ''Ledger-Enquirer'', where he ultimately became the paper's business manager. Chapman was hired in 1953 as the executive vice president and general manager of the ''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute f ...

'', where he introduced a

profit sharing Profit sharing refers to various incentive plans introduced by businesses which provide direct or indirect payments to employees, often depending on the company's profitability, employees' regular salaries, and bonuses. In publicly traded compa ...

program and developed metrics for employee performance. He and partner Mills B. Lane Jr. purchased the ''Morning News'' and the ''Savannah Evening Press'', creating the '' Savannah Morning News and Press'', which they sold in 1960. Chapman was hired by ''

'' in August 1960 to serve as assistant to James L. Knight, who was then serving as general manager of The Herald and executive vice president of Knight Newspapers.2004 Alvah Chapman, Jr.
, Florida Press Association Hall Of Fame. Accessed December 29, 2008. ''The Herald'' appointed Chapman as its president in 1969. In 1974, he played a major role in the merger of Knight Newspapers and Ridder Publications, the biggest newspaper combination to that time. He became the chief executive officer of the combined Knight Ridder in 1976 and was named as the company's chairman in 1982. Chapman stepped down as chairman of Knight Ridder on October 1, 1989, succeeded by James K. Batten. During Chapman's tenure at Knight Ridder, the chain's newspapers won a total of 33

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

s and revenues increased threefold. The firm was able to get an operating agreement between Knight Ridder's ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...

'' and

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as severa ...

's ''

The Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United S ...

'' approved by the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

Philanthropy

Chapman was active in philanthropic and civic efforts in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

and throughout

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

. He was involved in an effort to rebuild portions of

Homestead, Florida Homestead is a city within Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in the United States, U.S. state of Florida, between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. Homestead is primarily a Miami suburb and ...

and Southern

Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous coun ...

that had been severely damaged during 1992's

Hurricane Andrew Hurricane Andrew was a compact, but very powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It was the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures dama ...

and was part of a $2 billion

Downtown Miami Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida, United States. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and ...

renewal project. He was the founder of Community Partnership for Homeless, an organization designed to help Miami's homeless get off the streets and return to self-sufficiency. He had headed the

Florida Philharmonic Orchestra The Florida Philharmonic Orchestra (or FPO, founded in 1985 as the Philharmonic Orchestra of Florida) was a symphony orchestra based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Sou ...

, the Miami Coalition for a Drug-Free Community, Goodwill Industries of South Florida, the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Miami Citizens Against Crime, the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

Committee, a committee to build the Miami Performing Arts Center and the local United Way. In 1992 he was appointed by President Bush to be the first Chairman of Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America. With donations from Chapman and $14 million in contributions from Knight Ridder and associated foundations,

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...

named the Alvah H. Chapman, Jr. Graduate School of Business in his honor in 2001.Staff
"University dedicates new Chapman Graduate School of Business"
''FIU Magazine'', Spring 2002. Accessed December 29, 2008. He also endowed the Alvah Chapman Chair in Management at The Citadel School of Business and his alma mater annually awards the Alvah Chapman Distinguished Leadership Award to deserving members of the business community. Chapman died at age 87 on December 25, 2008, of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. He had

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

and had experienced a number of

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

s, in addition to breaking a hip in March 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Alvah Herman American newspaper publishers (people) Deaths from pneumonia in Florida People from Columbus, Georgia Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) The Citadel alumni United States Army Air Forces bomber pilots of World War II Miami Herald people People with Parkinson's disease 1921 births 2008 deaths Recipients of the Air Medal United States Army Air Forces officers