Norma Lea Beasley

1998 Inductee
Business and Professional Leadership
(1931-2012)

Norma Lea Beasley was the founder and CEO of the largest group of independent title insurance agencies in America.

Norma was raised in a small rural town in Arkansas, where she helped her family by working on the farm and selling produce along the highway. At the age of 18, she was the only woman and youngest student in her law class at the University of Arkansas. Norma went on to become the first woman and youngest attorney hired by Mid-Continent Petroleum Corporation of Tulsa and later became the first woman to head the legal department of a title company in Texas.

Throughout her career, Norma worked to help women in the business world. Her organization had 50 offices with 300 employees, more than 80 percent of which are women. She received many business honors including the Pathfinder Award, Texas Trailblazer Award and the Athena Award. She was selected by NBC’s "Today Show" as one of the most Outstanding Business Women in America; named "Who’s Who in Insurance" by the Dallas Business Journal; was one of 30 women in America selected by the National Women’s Economic Alliance Foundation for contributions to free enterprise system; and received the Lifetime Membership Award and the Outstanding Achievement Award from Commercial Real Estate Women.