Lurleen Burns Wallace (born Lurleen Brigham Burns; September 19, 1926 – May 7, 1968) was the 46th governor of Alabama for 16 months from January 16, 1967 until her untimely death on May 7, 1968. She was the first wife of Alabama governor George Wallace, whom she succeeded as governor because the Alabama constitution forbade consecutive terms. She was Alabama's first female governor and was the only female governor to hold the position until Kay Ivey became the second woman to succeed to the office in 2017. She is also (as of 2023) the only female governor in U.S. history to have died in office as well as being the first and so far currently to date only female Democrat to have serve as Alabama state governor in Alabama's state history. In 1973, she was posthumously inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.