Well-Deserved Recognition

Karlene Ball Receives 2008 Ireland Award for Scholarly Distinction

Internationally renowned UAB psychologist Karlene Ball, Ph.D., won the 2008 Caroline P. andCharles W. Ireland Award for Scholarly Distinction. At a dinner given inher honor at the Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center on May 1, 2008, Ball delivered a lecture titled “Cognitive Fitness Programs:Impact on Driving and Everyday Functions.”

The Ireland award, which goes to a full-time UAB faculty member in the schools of Arts and Humanities, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, or Social and Behavioral Sciences, comes with a $5,000 cash award provided by the Ireland endowment to recognize, reward, and encourage scholarly distinction in the arts and sciences. “This is a great honor,” Ball says.
Dr. Ball heads the UAB Center for Research in Applied Gerontology and is associate director of the UAB Center for Aging in the School of Medicine. Her research explores how cognitive training inolder adults affects their everyday functional abilities.

“Dr. Ball is an incredibly accomplished scientist whose work has had groundbreaking applications that have improved the quality of daily living and overall well-being of older adults,” says Jean Ann Linney, Ph.D., dean of the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences. “We are deeply grateful to the Ireland family for giving us this special way to recognize the extraordinary achievements of our colleagues.”