You can take the man out of Alabama, but if it’s Lee Perryman, you can’t keep him away from his Alabama hometown, Sylacauga. The University of Alabama (UA) graduate has spent most of his career outside the state: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida and Washington, D.C. His long-time employer, the Associated Press, called him away from the Yellow Hammer State and is the company through which he delivers huge contributions to broadcast news.

As a sophomore in high school, Perryman was already interested in broadcasting and began working at WMLS-AM/FM (now WYEA-AM and WFXO-FM) in Sylacauga, where he held various responsibilities in management, sales, news, programming and engineering (1973). While attending UA’s School of Communication, he was named operations manager of WUAL-FM (1977-78). After two years, Perryman was named general manager of WULA-AM / WLAZ-FM (now WNRA-AM and WKZJ-FM) in Eufaula, Alabama. He held that position for one-and-a-half years.

Still a very young man, but one with broadcast-smarts well beyond his years, Perryman’s next move turned out to be the first of many within the gorilla of broadcast news and technology. Hired by the Associated Press, his first job was in broadcast sales for Florida, based in Tampa (1980-83). After living in the Sunshine State for a couple years, he sold his surf board, purchased a big overcoat and moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, covering territories in New Jersey and Delaware (1983-1985).

Perryman’s next move was to Washington, D.C., home for AP’s global broadcast headquarters. In 1985, he was assigned to the Office of the Director of AP’s Broadcast division, where he managed special business projects including an overhaul of AP’s broadcast assessment formula, unchanged since the 1940s. Keeping his one-and-a-half to two-year in-house promotion tradition, Perryman became Deputy Director, Administration, Broadcast Services. In this position, he was responsible for day-to-day administrative operations, including contract administration, strategic planning, budgeting and development/implementation of administrative and news/weather relay systems. He was elected corporate Assistant Secretary in 1988.

By 1989, Perryman’s focus turned to technology projects and product development, and 19 years later, he was promoted to his current position: Director, Broadcast Technology/ENPS, responsible for business planning and design of administrative and editorial systems for the launch of London-based APTV (now APTN), AP’s global video news arm.

Today, he leads broadcast technology teams based in the United States and the United Kingdom. These teams develop, market and support news production systems for use by thousands of media organizations around the world. ENPS, now the department’s primary product, was introduced in 1997 and supports more than 60,000 journalists working in more than 40 languages in more than 900 television, radio and network newsrooms in 56 counties. Perryman was involved with earlier products including AP NewsDesk (1989), AP GraphicsBank (1990), and AP NewsCenter (1993).

Janet Perryman Adams always knew her brother would be successful in whatever he attempted. And his successes go beyond broadcasting.

Over the past decade, Perryman has maintained small residential and commercial real estate investment projects in his hometown. In 2012, he purchased and rebuilt WYEA-AM and added a new FM station in January 2014.

“He loves Sylacauga…his home,” Adams says. “He loves to invest in its people and in its roots. It is not just about broadcasting. It’s more about personal flair in the community.”

Living in Alexandria, Virginia, Perryman travels to Alabama as often as possible. The man who received the honor of The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, by appointment of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and who literally travels the world, comes back to Alabama often, and is simply “Lee” to the community he cherishes.

Perryman is a member of First Presbyterian Church and the National Press Club, where he serves as a member of the Broadcast Committee and Speakers Committee. He earned the rank of Eagle Scout and is a member of 52 genealogical and hereditary organizations, including the National Genealogical Society, the Alabama Genealogical Society and the Virginia Genealogical Society.