Alvin Charles Copeland (2 February 1944-23 March 2008) was an American entrepreneur and the founder of the Popeyes fast food chain. born in New Orleans and raised in housing projects by a single mother, he left high school at 16 to work in retail. In 1972, he founded the Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits fast food chain in Arabi, St. Bernard Parish, naming the chain after Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle. He began franchising his restaurant in 1976, and Popeyes became the country's third-largest chain by 1989, after which it purchased Church's Chicken, the second-largest. Copeland used his wealth to fund power boat racing teams, extravagant weddings, an annual Christmas light show, an endowment to Louisiana State University, Delgado Community College's chef apprentice program, and the National Food Service Institute.
From 1998 to 2007, Al Copeland Investments made four donations to the Louisiana Republican Legislative Delegation Campaign Committee, as well as to several Republican candidates; however, Copeland frequently donated to Democratic constable Lambert Boissiere Jr.. During the 1990s, it was falsely rumored that Copeland had made major donations to Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke's US Senate bid.