Biography
 Click here for a high-resolution image suitable for print Secretary of State Beth Chapman was elected Alabama's 51st Secretary of State in November of 2006
after being elected and serving four years as State Auditor.
Secretary Chapman received her B.S. Degree from the University of
Montevallo, and her Master’s Degree, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of
Alabama at Birmingham. She also completed post-graduate work with a perfect
4.0.
Secretary Chapman was the first woman in Alabama's history to serve as a
Cabinet Member in the capacity of Appointments Secretary for a Governor and
later as Press Secretary for a Lt. Governor. In addition, she and her family
have owned a successful business for more than a decade.
First elected as State Auditor in 2002, Chapman was responsible for $1.6
billion in property assets. Under her leadership, the State Auditor's Office
produced a record-breaking 96% perfect audit rate among state agencies,
holding them to the highest level of accountability.
As Secretary of State, Chapman has streamlined the Business Division of her office and brought them
into the 21st Century with electronic online business filings.
Chapman created Alabama’s first Voter Fraud Task Force, an investigative branch of her office. She has championed the
fight against voter fraud which was highlighted nationally on Fox News. She
is also known as a national leader in the valiant effort to develop military
internet voting to better serve members of our military who serve abroad.
Under Chapman’s leadership the number of Alabama voter’s increased by approximately 200,000 and she and
her staff successfully conducted the largest Presidential Election in Alabama’s history.
Secretary Chapman was elected to serve on the Executive Board for the Standards Board of the
United States Elections Assistance Commission. She is a member of the
National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) and serves as a co-chair of their International Relations
Committee. She also serves on The Pew Charitable Trust’s Alliance for Military and Overseas Voting Rights. Secretary Chapman has travelled to Taiwan as a NASS Delegate
and to Munich, Germany as a special guest of the Overseas Vote Foundation’s
International Summit. She has been called as an expert witness to speak
before Congress regarding the need and potential solutions to the voting
problems faced by our military members serving overseas.
Secretary Chapman has received numerous military commendations for her advancement of the
patriotic spirit in America: the Seven Seals Award by the Employer Support
for the Guard and Reserves (ESGR), three appointments by Alabama’s Governor
and Adjutant General to participate in the Partnership for Peace Program - representing Alabama in Romania, Belgium and Germany.
Secretary Chapman was honored by the United States Selective Service Board,
received an award of support from the Alabama National Guard, and was chosen to represent Alabama at the National Security Forum
at the nationally-renowned Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base. She
has been invited to speak and represent Alabama at numerous military events
throughout the United States.
Secretary Chapman has served as a member of the Governor's Committee on Accountability and was
elected unanimously as a member of Alabama's Electoral College in 2004 after
being elected statewide as a delegate to the 2000 and 2004 National
Republican Conventions. She has received numerous personal and professional
honors and awards including two congressional appointments to the Women's Leadership Conference in Washington, DC, the Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Montevallo and she
is a graduate of the Executives in State Government Management Institute at Princeton University. She has also been honored by the Southern Women in Leadership Program sponsored by the Stennis Center for Public Service.
Secretary Chapman has worked with the Developing Alabama Youth Program, Family Connections, Shelby
County Child Advocacy Center, and has served on the boards of the Shelby
County Family Resource Center, the Children's Policy Council, the Crisis Center,
the Court Appointed Special Advocates, Lifeline Ministries and Turning Point Foundation. She has been
named a Champion for Youth by the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and won
the Walker County Community Service Award.
Secretary Chapman is the author of three books. One, The Power of
Patriotism, received a national award, the distinguished George
Washington Honor Medal from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge. She has also written
two patriotic speeches, which have been entered into the Congressional
Record by Senator Jeff Sessions and Congressman Jo Bonner respectively.
Secretary Chapman has been married to her husband James for twenty one
years. They have two sons. The Chapman Family is involved in numerous
community and church activities.
Secretary Chapman is a highly sought
after motivational speaker in the business, church and political arenas.
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