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.

Christopher S. Brown, Ph.D., former vice president of Research for the University of North Carolina System and director and primary investigator of the NASA/North Carolina Space Grant, tapped to grow UAB’s $500 million annual research portfolio.

After the acquisition, the DoubleTree by Hilton on University Boulevard and 20th Street South will undergo a significant renovation that will upgrade the property and the guest experience.
U.S. News & World Report ranks UAB No. 162 in its 2017 Best Global Universities ranking, up from its rank of No. 200 in 2016 and 269 spots higher than the next-highest-ranked university in Alabama.
UAB has increased campus internet connection speeds 10-fold and become the first university in Alabama to achieve 100 gigabits per second, up to 10,000 times many standard home internet speeds — increasing the institution’s competitive advantage in teaching, research and health care.
In Forbes’ 2016 report of America’s Best Employers that examined 1,900 companies with more than 1,000 employees to identify factors that influence employee satisfaction, UAB ranked in the top 25 among America’s best midsize employers.
best of 2016Record student recruitment and retention gains have vaulted UAB enrollment from a previous high of 18,698 in 2014 to 19,535, with key increases mirroring targeted initiatives to attract and retain freshmen, Honors College, Blazing Start, international and transfer students, and officials say it is just the beginning.

best of 2016After major investments in information technology infrastructure — bringing the fastest supercomputer in Alabama to campus — UAB can now execute tasks in a couple of hours that took an entire day just a year ago. 

UAB Hospital remains at top in Birmingham and Alabama, and rises in several specialty rankings in 2016-2017 U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals report.
In contrast to unreliable third-party physician rating and review systems, UAB Medicine is empowering consumers to make informed health care decisions based on reliable information from actual patients through its online physician directory.
Clinic opens Aug. 1 and will initially offer urology, gastroenterology, endocrinology and rheumatology care.
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