Family Ties

Ritchey Family Sociology Scholarship

Mark LaGory, Ferris Ritchey, and Jean Ann Linney

More than 30 descendants of Annie P. and Ferris S. Ritchey have attended UAB. Nineteen have received undergraduate degrees, 14 have received graduate and professional degrees, and nine have been employed here. So it was a natural fit when the Ritchey family and other donors wanted to honor the couple’s memory by establishing the Annie P. and Ferris S. Ritchey Sr. Endowed Scholarship in Sociology in the UAB School of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

“The scholarship is designed to offer support to a promising new undergraduate student in sociology,” says Mark LaGory, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Sociology and Social Work. “It is the first undergraduate scholarship and the first endowed scholarship for the department, and it is significant that it is named in honor of the Ritchey family. They raised two nationally known sociologists, Ferris J. Ritchey, Ph.D., UAB professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Sociology and Social Work, and his brother Neal, also a Ph.D. at the University of Cincinnati. Both are active in research related to health disparities and social justice issues. These are two areas of research that are central to the department at UAB.”

Annie and Ferris Ritchey came to the United States from Lebanon in 1905 and 1914, respectively, and married in Birmingham in 1917. They operated grocery businesses in the Avondale and Woodlawn communities and raised 13 children. Most of their many descendants reside in the Birmingham area. This endowed scholarship contributes to the Ritchey family’s efforts to fulfill Ferris and Annie’s wish that the extended family remain cohesive and loving in future generations.

Maintaining the Momentum / Summer/Fall 2009