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Janet Woodruff-Borden, Ph.D., is the senior vice president of Academic Affairs and provost at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. As chief academic officer, she spearheads the university's educational initiatives and is pivotal in advancing the university's strategic growth. Before joining UAB in February 2024, Woodruff-Borden was interim provost and executive vice president at the University of Oregon.

At Oregon, Dr. Woodruff-Borden also served as executive vice provost and as vice provost and dean of the Graduate School. She has also held appointments at the University of Louisville, where she was a professor of psychological and brain sciences. She held several administrative positions throughout her career at Louisville, including director of graduate studies for the clinical psychology doctoral program and associate dean for graduate studies in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Woodruff-Borden is a clinical psychologist whose research focuses on the etiology, developmental psychopathology, and treatment of anxiety disorders. Her work examines risk and protective factors in the development of anxiety, including biological, cognitive, and psychosocial markers, as well as the complex interactions among these factors across development. She is widely published, and her work has been supported with grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI). She has also received graduate education training grants from the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) and the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

She received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Wake Forest University, an M.S. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Janet Woodruff-Borden

Janet Woodruff-Borden, Ph.D.
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Office of the Provost Impact Report: Fall 2017-2023

Office of the Provost Impact Report: Fall 2017-2023


Read Impact Report: Fall 2017-2023 Opens an external link.

Key Initiatives

AI Task Force Report Icon AI Task Force Report

A Report on Artificial Intelligence and the UAB Community, prepared by the Provost-appointed AI Working Group.

Blazer Core Curriculum Icon Blazer Core Curriculum

Faculty from every undergraduate department are collaborating on this effort to create a unique curriculum that models and develops socially conscious global leaders and citizens.

Strategic Plan Icon Strategic Plan

We are holding ourselves accountable to the bold blueprint of Forging the Future with rigorous metrics and dashboards that measure our success for all to see.

Community Engagement Icon Community Engagement

Through faculty and staff service, and service-learning courses, we are scaling up our support for Birmingham and beyond like never before.

UAB Grand Challenge Icon Grand Challenge

Our bold project – Healthy Alabama 2030 – will lift Alabama’s health rankings by harnessing faculty expertise and research, and student engagement to bring sweeping change statewide.

Campus Engagement Survey Icon Campus Engagement Survey

We are making UAB better by using survey data to enhance success and address concerns and opportunities at the school and department level through detailed action plans.

Enrollment Growth Icon Enrollment Growth

Data–driven strategies and close collaboration across campus allow us to recruit and retain top students, which has led to four years of record enrollment.

Global Engagement Global Engagement

UAB’s impact extends to every continent through research, education and service partnerships that spread our discoveries and share knowledge with the world.

Profiles & Scholars@UAB Icon Profiles & Scholars@UAB

These two new systems allow faculty to manage their accomplishments and activities, find cross–disciplinary collaborations and streamline publications and grants.

University-Wide Committees Icon University-Wide Committees

We are committed to shared governance, with student, faculty and staff representation in decisions on everything from strategic planning and safety to parking and transportation to campus pride initiatives.

APLU Icon APLU

UAB’s participation in APLU’s Powered by Publics: Scaling Student Success expands our culture of collaboration, improves college access, advances equity and increases degrees awarded.

EPIC Icon EPIC

The Educational Programs and Innovation Consortia (EPIC) seeks to streamline and assist in the process of developing UAB joint programs.

Faculty News

  • UAB’s Wajiha Mekki receives the esteemed Voyager Scholarship to advance passion for public service
    Mekki is honored to receive this prestigious scholarship that will alleviate the financial burden of education and provide meaningful travel experiences.
  • UAB’s Welcome Back Concert headlines Lil Jon, Grammy Award-winning rapper and Super Bowl performer
    Lil Jon’s appearance joins a variety of musical artists who have been invited to perform at UAB. Previous artists include T-Pain in 2023, Weezer for the University’s 50th anniversary in 2019 and H.E.R for the 2018 Spring Concert
  • UAB summer commencement will be Aug. 10 at Bartow Arena
    This semester, at least 1,621 students are eligible to graduate, and 892 students are expected to walk in two ceremonies.

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Blazer Kudos

Kudos is UAB Office of the Provost's peer-to-peer recognition program. Send your fellow colleagues a round of applause — Kudos — when they impress you or when you want to recognize something great they have done.

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