Maurice Crowe to Deliver First Mills Lecture at UA

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The first Helen Crow and John Carroll Mills Lecture at The University of Alabama will be delivered by Maurice Crowe, chief executive officer of RM Crowe Realty and Development Inc., Oct.19 at 1:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Morgan Hall.

It will be followed by a reception in UA’s Oliver Barnard Hall.

The lecture series was established by Helen Mills and the late John Mills to bring successful and distinguished alumni and citizens to campus to speak as a way to motivate and inspire students.

In his lecture, “Lessons in Switching to Plan B,” Crowe will discuss how he built a successful real estate and development corporation only after encountering several obstacles that strengthened his perseverance.

“I think I’m a good example of not catching on very early, educationally and career wise, and having to restart,” Crowe said. “And that has taught me a valuable lesson: What matters in life isn’t whether you are going to fail. You will. What matters is what you’re going to do when you come up short of succeeding.”

In the past 20 years, RM Crowe and its partners have acquired, developed or managed more than $1.5 billion in real estate, including such Dallas landmarks as the Park Cities Hilton, Highland Park Place Office Building, and Park Cities Plaza, which is under development.

RM Crowe Realty and Development, of Dallas, is one of the largest privately owned real estate companies in Texas and owns, manages or leases approximately 6 million square feet of commercial real estate. It has a total market capitalization of $750 million.

Crowe, a native of Mobile, received his bachelor’s degree in history from UA in 1977 followed by a juris doctorate degree from Cumberland School of Law.

Helen Mills and her late husband, John Mills, of Birmingham, established the Helen Crow and John Carroll Mills Lecture Series Endowed Support Fund in the College with a $100,000 commitment shortly before he passed away earlier this year.

Helen Mills received a Bachelor of Science degree from the College of Human Environmental Sciences at The University of Alabama in 1959. She is president of Crow Real Estate and Insurance Co. in Birmingham.

John Mills received his Bachelor of Science degree in pre-dental studies from the UA College of Arts and Sciences in 1955 and a dentistry degree from The University of Alabama School of Dentistry in Birmingham in 1958. He pursued oral surgery training at Jackson Hospital in Miami, Fla. the following year. Mills was board certified as one of the first clinical endodontists in Alabama, and he practiced dentistry for 29 years.

After leaving private practice, Mills became director of the endodontic program at The University of Alabama School of Dentistry in Birmingham. He died January 19, 2007, in Birmingham.