Retiring Richard Shelby to donate official Senate papers to the University of Alabama

U.S. Senator Richard Shelby visited the Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019 at Indian Hills Country Club. [Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.]

Housing Richard Shelby's official Senate papers at the University of Alabama will provide researchers with a one-of-a-kind opportunity, UA officials said.

"... It is impossible to overstate the great historical significance and lasting impact this donation will have on the University of Alabama,” said UA System Chancellor Finis St. John in a news release. “We are grateful for Sen. Shelby’s service to our state and for his decision to entrust us with his official materials. His legacy will be felt for generations to come.”

The announcement that UA would house Shelby's official Senate papers, records and materials was made at the Nov. 5 UA System board of trustees meeting.

U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby speaks to reporters after taking a tour of the C-Class assembly at the Mercedes-Benz U.S. International plant in Vance, Ala., on Friday, Feb. 21, 2014. [Staff file photo]

Shelby, a Birmingham native who earned his undergraduate and law degrees from UA, will retire from the Senate after completing his sixth term in 2022.

He said he was honored that his papers would be housed at his alma mater at the end of his career.

"I hope that these materials will facilitate academic research for scholars and students of law, history, policy, political science and other fields, as I believe one of the most important investments we make is in our classrooms," Shelby said in the release.

UA President Stuart R. Bell said that the receipt of Shelby’s papers could serve as a catalyst for the creation of a new institute that would give students, faculty and staff opportunities to engage with politicians and policy professionals through new academic, leadership and scholarly research programs.

U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby visited the Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019 at Indian Hills Country Club. Stillman College President Cynthia Warrick speaks with Shelby. [Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.]

"Provost Jim Dalton and I look forward to working with our faculty and students to develop the leading program of its kind, as the university continues its mission to drive the advancement of this state,” Bell said.

Shelby is Alabama’s longest-serving U.S. senator and he has chaired four Senate committees — appropriations, rules, banking and intelligence. Before his election to the U.S. Senate, Shelby served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and eight years in the Alabama Legislature.

Shelby lives in Tuscaloosa with his wife, Annette N. Shelby, who is a UA graduate and former UA professor. A Tuscaloosa park at the corner of Queen City Avenue and 15th Street is named for Annette Shelby.

The Shelby Hall Center for Research on the UA campus is named in honor of Shelby and his wife.

United States Sen. Richard Shelby visits with then-University of Alabama Chancellor Robert Witt in the lobby of the Embassy Suites in Tuscaloosa, Ala. on Tuesday March 31, 2015. [Staff file photo]

Richard Shelby was appointed as Tuscaloosa's city prosecutor in 1964 and his political career began in 1970 when he was elected to the Alabama Senate.

In 1978, Shelby was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Tuscaloosa-based 7th District.

In 1986, he was elected to the U.S. Senate.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Richard Shelby to donate Senate papers to University of Alabama