STEPHANIE BELL was first elected to the Alabama State Board of Education in 1994 and has been elected to four consecutive terms.

Mrs. Bell earned a bachelor’s degree in English/Journalism from Auburn University, at Auburn and Montgomery.

She serves on the Education Commission of the States and was part of an 18-member National Association of State Boards of Education panel that released a year-long literacy study entitled “Reading at Risk: The State Response to the Crisis in Adolescent Literacy.” She currently serves on a committee of 17 state board of education members from across the United States studying Middle School reforms.

Mrs. Bell served as Executive Director of the Statewide Committee on Reforming Education, a grassroots education improvement organization, and has been a member of the Education Leaders Council, a national network of state board of education members and school superintendents.

She has been appointed to three terms on the National Association of State Boards of Education Governmental Affairs Committee, was selected to participate in the National Governors' Association Alabama Travel Team to develop education policy, and is a charter member of RENEW’s National Council of women advisors to Congress.

Mrs. Bell has participated in numerous regional and national reading conferences throughout the United States. She represented Alabama at the National Council of State Legislators' Conference on Teen Health and Pregnancy Prevention, was appointed to the Alabama Teacher Preparation Advisory Council and serves on the Auburn University at Montgomery School of Education Advisory Council.

Awards and recognition include areas such as education, journalism and family. She is listed among the Outstanding Young Women of America and has received the "Friend of Education" Award, the Emma Sansom Heroine Award, the Alabama Homemaker of the Year and the Eagle Award for her work for "God, Family, and Country."

As a reporter for the Montgomery Advertiser and Alabama Journal, Mrs. Bell covered all facets of government, including education, the courts and the Legislature. She was presented a CASE II Media Award by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education in Louisville, KY, for a series of articles she wrote on waste and duplication in Alabama's two-year college system. She was recognized by the Alabama Press Association in the Best News Story category and was a Hector Award nominee for meritorious reporting. Mrs. Bell also taught English to Chinese adults while living in Taichung, Taiwan.

She has participated in numerous state and national panel discussions and education forums and has been interviewed on the BBC radio and television and National Public Radio.

Mrs. Bell has enjoyed working with the YMCA Youth in Government, the Hugh O’Brian Youth Foundation, and the Alabama Youth Leadership Program as a speaker. Other involvement with youth includes serving as a Sunday School teacher and YMCA Soccer coach.

Her volunteer work includes counseling for Sav-A-Life Ministries, newsletter editor at Father Purcell’s Exceptional Children's Center, the Governor's Domestic Violence Advisory Council, the Family Guidance Center board and Camp ASCCA committee. She has been a member of the Junior League of Montgomery for 26 years, served on the League's Board of Control, and chaired the League’s committee which published the city's first comprehensive college scholarship and financial aid booklet.

The former Stephanie Wolfe has been married 28 years to John C. Bell. They have three daughters: Sarah, 24; Becca, 22; and Katie, 18. They are members of Trinity Presbyterian Church.