Spring commencement at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) will be conducted in two ceremonies Saturday, May 8 at Bartow Arena, 617 13th St. South. The ceremonies will include about half of the 2,388 spring graduates.

  April 26, 2010

Marvin Engel. Download image.

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. - Spring commencement at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) will be conducted in two ceremonies Saturday, May 8 at Bartow Arena, 617 13th St. South. The ceremonies will include about half of the 2,388 spring graduates.

Ceremonies for the UAB College of Arts and Sciences and the UAB School of Education will begin at 9:30 a.m.; ceremonies for the schools of Business, Engineering, Public Health, Health Professions, Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, and Optometry will begin at 2 p.m.

Commencement addresses by undergraduate and graduate students and a presentation of an honorary degree will be part of each ceremony. Honored May 8 will be Birmingham civic leaders and UAB supporters Marvin R. Engel and Harold L. Abroms.

Hal Abroms. Download image.

9:30 a.m. Commencement Ceremony

Graduating senior Hernandez D. Stroud, 21, of Huntsville, will deliver the undergraduate commencement address. Stroud is the outgoing president of the UAB Undergraduate Student Government Association. He is a student in the UAB University Honors Program and the UAB Minority Scholars Program and a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Alpha Theta honor societies. He will receive a bachelor's degree in history with a minor in political science. After graduation, he will join Teach for America, a national corps of outstanding college graduates and professionals who commit two years to teach in underserved rural and urban school districts. Stroud will teach high school social studies in Philadelphia and pursue a master's degree in education policy at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. He plans to enroll in law school after completing his degree. He is the son of Hernandez K. & Bettie J. Stroud of Huntsville.

Jeffrey Frees, 24, of Pell City, will deliver the graduate commencement address. Frees graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in computer and information science from UAB in 2008 and was named as the Outstanding Undergraduate in Computer Science. As an undergraduate student he was active as vice chairman and chairman of the UAB Student Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery and a member of UAB Computer and Information Sciences Competitive Programming Team. Frees, who is graduating with a master's degree in computer and information science with a specialization in parallel and distributed computing, plans a career that combines his interests in computers and technology. He is the son of Mark and Lynn Frees of Pell City.

Engel will receive the honorary degree Doctor of Humanities. A well-known Birmingham philanthropist and former head of Engel Realty Co., he has served on the boards of the Alabama Symphonic Association, Birmingham Museum of Art-Art Fund Inc., EyeSight Foundation of Alabama, Leadership Birmingham, Alabama Shakespeare Festival and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C. He was chairman of the board of the St. Vincent's Foundation from 1997 to 1998.

Engel and his wife, Ruth, have been avid supporters of UAB programs such as the Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital, UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, UAB Cardiovascular Disease Research Center, several endowed chairs and Alys Stephens Center through the Engel Family Foundation and other personal contributions. 

The Engels also established the Ruth and Marvin Engel Jewish Family Services Fund. In 2000, the National Society of Fund Raising Executives-Alabama Chapter named Engel as the Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year. In 2001, he was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor.

2 p.m. Commencement Ceremony

Krystle Lee Worthington, 22, of Trussville will deliver the undergraduate commencement address. Worthington is a School of Health Professions honor student and a member of the Sigma Alpha Lambda Honor Society, Golden Key International Honor Society and Alpha Eta Honor Society.  She has held various offices in the Health Professions Student Government Association and also was a member of the UAB Color Guard. Worthington will graduate with a bachelor's degree in nuclear medicine technology. She is the daughter of Richard A. Worthington and Robyn F. Worthington of Trussville.

Kathryn Davis, 26, of Lafayette, La., will deliver the graduate commencement address.  Davis has worked as a graduate assistant in the School of Public Health and in the School of Optometry, as well as in the UAB Center for the Study of Community Health where she helped develop and implement literacy programs.  She also volunteers for Project Homeless and various health fairs and causes in the Birmingham area. She is graduating with a master's degree in public health and will begin work in health literacy at Northwestern University's Institute for Health Care Studies. She is the daughter of Fred and Debbie Davis of Lafayette.

Abroms will receive the honorary degree Doctor of Humanities. He is a long-time benefactor of UAB and the Birmingham community. For 20 years, from 1975 to 1995, he held several positions at Parisian Inc., including secretary-treasurer, executive vice president and chief operating officer before retiring as the company's vice chairman. Prior to joining Parisian Inc., Abroms was president of Lumberjack Meats Inc.

Abroms and his wife, Judy, have supported the Alys Stephens Center, WBHM-FM, the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, UAB University Honors Program, UAB School of Business, Gloria Goldstein Howton Scholarship Endowment, UAB Ambassadors and UAB Golden 100 Athletic Fund.

Abroms is a member of the Alabama Symphony Association's executive committee and Alabama Symphony Endowment Board. He is a member of the United Way Planned Giving Committee, UAB President's Council, University Honors Program Leadership Council, Comprehensive Campaign Executive Committee and Fund Raising and Development Strategy Committee. He was a recipient of the 2000 Alexis de Tocqueville Society Award from United Way, 1995 Outstanding Civic Leader Award from the National Society of Fund Raising Executives and 1995 Brotherhood Award for Outstanding Community Service from the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

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