Charles Collat, Chairman Emeritus of Mayer Electric Supply, received the honorary degree Doctor of Humanities for his civic and philanthropic efforts during University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) commencement exercises recently. Along with his successful career as a business executive, Charles is well-known for his support for education, health care and family services. He has served on the board of directors and has been an active member of the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind Foundation, United Way and the Birmingham Area Boy Scouts.

Charles and his wife, Patsy, have devoted time and resources to numerous organizations, including the Birmingham Jewish Foundation, where they established the Collat Jewish Family Services Fund. The fund provides families with financial and emotional support, assists senior adults in leading full and independent lives and enhances the quality of life of the Jewish community.

Longtime supporters of higher education and UAB, the Collats have funded numerous university programs through personal contributions as well as gifts from Mayer Electric Supply and the Mayer Electric Supply Foundation, including the establishment of the UAB School of Business Ben S. Weil Endowed Chair of Industrial Distribution in honor of Patsy Collat’s father, founder of Mayer Electric Supply. In 2007, the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees recognized the Collats’ contributions by renaming the program the Charles and Patsy Collat Industrial Distribution Program.

The Collats also completed the funding for the Charles A. and Patsy W. Collat Endowed Chair in Neurosurgery in the School of Medicine. Additional gifts from the Collats have benefited UAB Athletics; the UABCenter for Palliative and Comfort Care; AIDS, surgery, ophthalmologic and cancer research; and the schools of Business, Education, Engineering and Medicine.