Jim Bakken

Jim Bakken

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jimb@uab.edu • (205) 934-3887
Chief Communications Officer, Public Relations 

As chief communications officer for the University of Alabama at Birmingham and UAB Medicine, Bakken leads teams that set and execute internal and external communications strategy. Prior to joining UAB in 2012, Bakken spent a decade working with a diverse client base at two full-service communications firms. Bakken spent eight years in Nashville at McNeely Pigott and Fox – one of the largest PR firms in the Southeast – prior to launching Peritus Public Relations in Birmingham in 2010. Bakken has served on the board of the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations, is accredited by the Public Relations Society of America and has been a Birmingham Business Journal Top 40 Under 40 honoree.

The ceremony will include employers that are hiring graduates. Prior graduates have secured employment with organizations like Blue Cross Blue Shield, Honda, Protective Life and UAB.

The City of Birmingham has secured a $75,000 grant from the National Conference of Mayors to support the UAB-led Innovate Birmingham workforce development initiative.
Calhoun Community College graduates can access UAB facilities, resources, mentors and counselors while pursuing an associate degree, and enroll in UAB with financial assistance when they graduate from Calhoun. Two graduates a year will receive full UAB scholarships.
UAB will host a free Sam Hunt concert Sept. 1 in Birmingham’s Uptown Entertainment District on the eve of the Blazers’ first game in #theReturn of UAB Football the following day. The country music star and former UAB quarterback will be joined by Maren Morris and Ryan Follese.
Benoit is a seasoned educator, communicator and administrator who comes to UAB from Ohio University, where she was executive vice president and provost for almost eight years.
Some of the 18 graduates of the Innovate Birmingham Workforce Program have been offered jobs to begin high-demand information technology careers with local employers like Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, Brasfield & Gorrie, Regions and UAB.
UAB is among the nation’s best in several online programs, according to the 2017 U.S. News & World Report Best Online Programs available at usnews.com.
UAB secured more than $328.5 million in federal research funding in 2015, ranking the institution No. 18 among public universities and No. 34 overall in the United States during a year in which UAB’s total research and development expenditures exceeded $516 million.
Following a national search, Charles W. “Chuck” Holmes, a veteran journalist and newsroom leader at NPR in Washington, D.C., has been named the general manager of WBHM 90.3 FM, the listener-supported service of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The Innovate Birmingham Regional Workforce Partnership, a broad coalition of public, community, business and education leaders committed to fostering economic growth for the region and offering better opportunities for young adults, partnered to secure a nearly $6 million U.S. Department of Labor Education and Training Administration’s America’s Promise grant. 

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