University of Alabama at Birmingham

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (also known as UAB) is a public, coeducational university located in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. The university is part of the three-member University of Alabama System, which includes the main campus in Tuscaloosa (UA) and the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). UAB, along with the University of Alabama and Auburn University, constitute the state's three major institutions. UAB currently has an enrollment of approximately 17,600 students. The school's president is Carol Garrison.

UAB began in 1936 as the Birmingham Extension Center of the University of Alabama. Because of the rapid growth of the Birmingham area, it was decided that an extension program for students who had difficulties which prevented them from studying in Tuscaloosa was needed. In 1945, the University of Alabama School of Medicine moved from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham, and took over management of Jefferson and Hillman Hospitals in Birmingham (now known as UAB Hospital). In 1966, the Extension Center and the School of Medicine were merged as the University of Alabama in Birmingham. When the University of Alabama System was formed in 1969, UAB became one of the three autonomous campuses of the new organization. The "in" in the school's name was replaced with an "at" in 1984.

Since 1969, UAB has awarded over 105,000 degrees. The UAB community extends far beyond the campus. UAB alumni live and work in all 50 states, more than 65 countries, and in nearly every career field.

UAB offers programs of study leading to bachelor's, master's, doctoral and professional degrees in various fields, including social and behavioral sciences, liberal arts, business, education, engineering, health-related fields (such as medicine, dentistry, optometry and nursing) and public health. The school is highly renowned for its medical research and natural sciences programs. UAB received over $390 million in federal grants during the past fiscal year for research purposes. This places the school as one of the larger research institutions in the Southeast. In fact, UAB is currently 3rd in the Southeast for NIH research funding behind only Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. UAB Hospital also sponsors residency programs in various medical specialties, including internal medicine, surgery, radiology, and anesthesiology.

Academics
UAB offers nearly 140 degrees at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in 12 schools and the UAB Graduate School.
 * School of Arts and Humanities
 * School of Business
 * School of Dentistry
 * School of Education
 * School of Engineering
 * School of Health Professions
 * School of Medicine
 * School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
 * School of Nursing
 * School of Optometry
 * School of Public Health
 * School of Social and Behavioral Sciences
 * Division of General Studies
 * UAB Graduate School

Additionally, the UAB Health System includes the University of Alabama Hospital, UAB Highlands Hospital, UAB Health Centers, the Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital, The Kirklin Clinic, the University of Alabama Health Services Foundation, and Viva Health. Managed by the UAB Health System through management agreements are UAB Medical West in Bessemer, and Baptist Health of Montgomery. UAB also has affiliations with the Birmingham VA Medical Center, Children's Hospital of Alabama, and Huntsville Hospital in Huntsville, Alabama.

General UAB Accolades

 * UAB students continue to garner prestigious national and international scholarships, fellowships, and other awards. Just since 2000, UAB has produced:

7 Fulbright Scholars 6 Phi Kappa Phi Fellows 5 Goldwater Scholars 3 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Fellows 2 Truman Scholars 1 Marshall Scholar 1 Rhodes Scholar


 * In 2007, the Princeton Review listed UAB as one of the "Best College Values" and also as a "Best Southeastern College". UAB is designated as one of the best overall bargains—based on cost and financial aid—among the most academically outstanding colleges in the nation.


 * The average ACT score of entering freshman at UAB was 23.7 in 2006.


 * Seven faculty members are members of the National Academy of the United States National Academies.


 * Eleven faculty Federal Research Awards of $20-million or more in 2004.


 * The UAB Model Arab League team is among the best government model teams in the nation with over five years of expansion and award winning achievement including multiple "outstanding delegation" awards.


 * The UAB Mock Trial team is consistently among the nation's best as a perennial Top 25 program. The program has enjoyed so much success that, in 2006, it won the national title in the Silver Division defeating the defending national champions of Harvard University.


 * UAB also has its own police department of state certified peace officers. The department has reached CALEA standards and has a Special Operations unit (bicycle patrol, mounted patrol, etc.) as well as over 75 sworn officers and detectives.


 * UAB is the home of the only Level 1 Trauma Center in the State of Alabama, as rated by the American College of Surgeons Trauma Program.

UAB School of Medicine and Nursing Accolades

 * The schools of Nursing and Medicine at UAB are among the nation’s best, according to the 2005-2006 U.S. News & World Report ranking of graduate schools. The School of Nursing is ranked 19th. The School of Medicine is ranked 23rd, two spots higher than the previous year's ranking. Five medical specialties at UAB are ranked in the top 20 nationally by the magazine: AIDS, 4th (up one ranking); women’s health, 8th; internal medicine 18th (up one ranking); geriatrics, 19th; and pediatrics, 19th. The school’s primary care program was ranked 34th, up four spots.


 * The School of Health Professions #1 in the nation in research funding from the National Institutes of Health and holds the record for 26 consecutive years in either first or second place.


 * The highest ranked academic program at UAB is the Master of Science in Health Administration (MSHA) program. It has been ranked in the top 10 programs in the nation by U.S. News & World Report since the early 1990s. The master’s program in physical therapy is also in the School of Health Professions and is ranked 25th.

UAB School of Business and Engineering Accolades

 * The UAB School of Business is 7th in rankings of metro, state business schools by US News and World Report, 2004.


 * Accreditation by AACSB International was achieved in 1973 in a record time of just two years, never accomplished before or since by any business school in the world.


 * The accounting program at UAB was among the first 17 in the nation to receive separate accreditation by the AACSB in 1982.


 * UAB graduates achieve first-time pass rates on the CPA exam that are 30% higher than the national average.


 * During the past six years, a UAB graduate has achieved the highest score in Alabama on the CPA Exam 5 times. (Comparatively, no other university/college in the state has had more than 2 graduates achieve the highest score in the last six years.)


 * UAB School of Business finance graduates pass the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam at a rate 20% higher than the national average.


 * The Industrial Distribution Program is the only fully integrated business-engineering ID program in the U.S. and one of only two programs residing in accredited schools of business and engineering within a 17-state area from Virginia to New Mexico.


 * A UAB engineering student has been named by the ASPE (Alabama Society of Professional Engineers) as Alabama’s Outstanding Undergraduate Student of the Year from 2001-2007 and 9 of the past 12 years (more often than any other university in the state).


 * The School of Engineering’s biomedical engineering program is ranked 40th in the nation. Doctoral programs in the biological sciences are in the top 50.

Athletics


The UAB Blazers are the forest green and old gold-swathed athletic teams at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, generally known as UAB. The school is one of the twelve member institutions of Conference USA and participates in Division I-A of the NCAA. The UAB football team is led by Neil Callaway and plays its home games at 71,594-seat Legion Field. The school's men's basketball team, coached by Mike Davis, plays in 8,500-seat Bartow Arena.

While the football team entered post-season play only recently, the men's basketball program has a long history of success spanning several decades.

The basketball program's first coach was Gene Bartow, who was John Wooden's successor at UCLA. Bartow left UCLA after several exceptional seasons (52-9 over three seasons, including a berth in the Final Four in 1976) to head up the founding of the first UAB men's basketball team. He served as the school's first head basketball coach and athletic director for 18 years. Bartow led UAB to the NIT in the program's second year of existence, and followed that with seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including trips to the Sweet 16 in 1981 and the Elite Eight in 1982. Bartow retired from coaching in 1996, and in 1997, UAB renamed its basketball venue, Bartow Arena, in his honor. Bartow continues to support the university as an influential booster and currently lives in Memphis where he serves on the staff of the Memphis Grizzlies as a Special Advisor. In 28 years UAB has made 13 NCAA appearances, 3 Sweet Sixteen appearances, 1 Elite Eight appearance, has had 25 winning seasons, of which 17 of those were 20+ wins seasons.

In addition to football and basketball, UAB also has programs in men's sports for baseball, golf, soccer, and tennis. Women's sports programs include softball, basketball, golf, soccer, synchronized swimming, tennis, track and field(indoor and outdoor), cross country, rifle and volleyball.

Blazer Victory
All hail alma mater

We sing this song for thee

Raise up the banner for Blazer victory.

(Fight! Fight! Fight!)

All hail alma mater

We pledge to always be

Ever faithful, ever loyal

To dear old UAB!

UAB Fight Song
At UAB in Birmingham

All hail our players bold

They are the mighty Blazers

Who wear the green and gold.

Tonight let's fire their golden blaze

The flame of victory

Go Blazers! Go Blazers!

Win for UAB!

Campus Green
UAB is in the process of constructing a new park called the Campus Green. The park will be divided into the North and South Greens. The Greens will be bordered by Blazer Hall, the Commons on the Green (the campus dining faculty), the Campus Recreation Center, and the new 95,000 square foot Academic Building. Blazer Hall opened in Fall 2006 and is a new 700-bed freshman dorm located next to the Commons on the Green. Other aspects of the Campus Green that would make it distinctly representative of UAB are being discussed.

Housing
UAB has five dormitories on campus:

Blazer Hall (Freshmen only)

Blount Hall

Camp Hall

Denman Hall

Rast Hall

Greek Life
Sororities


 * Alpha Sigma Tau 1970 (closed)
 * Alpha Gamma Delta 1978
 * Sigma Kappa 1980 (closed since 1984)
 * Alpha Omicron Pi 1987
 * Delta Gamma 1991
 * Alpha Xi Delta 1997
 * Alpha Kappa Alpha 1975
 * Delta Sigma Theta 1972
 * Zeta Phi Beta 1990
 * Sigma Gamma Rho 1996

Fraternities
 * Alpha Phi Alpha 1974
 * Omega Psi Phi
 * Phi Beta Sigma

Inter-Fraternity Council


 * Lambda Chi Alpha ΛΧΑ
 * Theta Chi ΘΧ (closed)
 * Alpha Tau Omega 1980 ATΩ (closed)
 * Kappa Sigma ΚΣ (closed)
 * Tau Kappa Epsilon TKE
 * Pi Kappa Alpha ΠΚΑ (closed)
 * Delta Sigma Phi ΔΣΦ
 * Pi Kappa Phi ΠΚΦ

Related links

 * UAB Hospital
 * UAB Blazers
 * Alabama Museum of Health Sciences
 * Alys Stephens Center

Notable Alumni

 * Larry Langford, Mayor-elect of Birmingham, Alabama
 * Stephen Brossette, Founder of MedMined
 * Jon Coffelt, New York Artist, Painter, Multimedia
 * Clayton Colvin, Artist, Painter, Art Educator
 * Thomas Crooks III, President, American Optometric Association
 * Larry DeLucas, Astronaut and research scientist
 * Julie Hanna Farris, Entrepreneur and founder of many companies such as Scalix
 * Vonetta Flowers, Olympic Gold-medalist
 * Darrell Hackney, NFL player with the Denver Broncos
 * Deanna Jackson, WNBA player with the Chicago Sky
 * Andy Kennedy, University of Mississippi men's basketball coach
 * Walter Maddox, Mayor of Tuscaloosa, Alabama
 * Linda Mays, News Anchor at WBMAABC 33/40
 * Graeme McDowell, professional golfer
 * Oliver Robinson, State of Alabama Legislator and former NBA player with the San Antonio Spurs
 * Janice Rogers, Good Day Alabama Host at WBRC Fox 6
 * David Sandlin, Artist, book artist, New York City
 * Richard Scrushy, founder and former CEO of HealthSouth Corporation
 * Melissa Springer, Photojournalist
 * Donell Taylor, NBA player with the Washington Wizards
 * Bryan Thomas, NFL player with the New York Jets
 * Roddy White, NFL player with the Atlanta Falcons

Notable Faculty

 * Larry DeLucas, astronaut and research scientist
 * Edith Frohock Master book maker and educator
 * Gary J. Grimes, inventor of the first virtual reality glove in 1979
 * Robert Hyatt, co-author of Cray Blitz, a two-time winner of the World Computer Chess Championships
 * Tinsley Randolph Harrison, physician and editor of the first 5 editions of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine.