Chapman was born in
Columbus, Georgia on March 21, 1921. His family owned the R. W. Page Corporation, which owned the
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer 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. He attended
The Citadel, 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. Chapman was hired by
The Miami Herald 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.
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. During Chapman's tenure at Knight Ridder, the chain's newspapers won a total of 33
Pulitzer Prizes and revenues increased threefold. The firm was able to get an operating agreement between Knight Ridder's
Detroit Free Press and
Gannett Company's
The Detroit News approved by the
United States Department of Justice. Chapman had headed the
Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, 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 Committee, a committee to build the Miami Performing Arts Center and the local United Way. 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. He had
Parkinson's disease and had experienced a number of
strokes, in addition to breaking a hip in March 2008. ==References==