College of Arts and Sciences names two department chairs

The Commission on the Status of Women awarded Jesse Rattan, Ph.D., Mitzi Swift, Grace Jepkemboi Komol, Ph.D., Amanda Watts and Jewell Dickson-Clayton for their commitments to providing significant service to and advancing issues that primarily affect underrepresented populations.

Sheryl LeAnn Perkins, DHA, will join Human Resources May 6 from the Arkansas State University System, where she oversaw the system's $10 million self-insured health plan fund.

Vern Bush, Kevin Davis and Brittany Martin are the first-quarter 2024 honorees of the UAB Values in Action Program. Nominations for second-quarter 2024 honorees are open through April 24.

Carlie Stein Somerville, M.D., an associate professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine, turned an HSF-GEF grant into a nationally recognized program that provides multidisciplinary support to help young adults transition to adult care. Four years later, “we have been able to show the impact that we can make with patients and families,” she said.

Twelve faculty have been selected to receive the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, which honors those who have demonstrated exceptional accomplishments in teaching. The 2023 honorees represent each school, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Honors College, and the Graduate School.

Emily Bruer, Amanda Dove and Dina Jones are the third-quarter 2023 honorees of the UAB Shared Values in Action Program, which honors those whose work exemplifies and embodies Forging the Future’s shared values. Nominations for fourth-quarter 2023 honorees are open through Nov. 8.

Jie Gao, Camerron Crowder, Ken Marion and James B. McClintock demonstrated extraordinary commitment to engaging undergraduate students in service learning, undergraduate research and education-abroad experiences.

Updates on the search process will be posted as they become available.

Karen Cropsey, Psy.D., director of UAB’s Center for Addiction and Pain Prevention and Intervention, served on an expert panel studying the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act.

Curiosity led Jenna Taer to the Computer Forensics Research Lab — and on to a master’s degree in cybersecurity. Then a major industry scholarship let her network with CEOs in a field she loves.

A childhood illness, a year spent working for the UFC and an on-campus internship are all fueling a grad student’s goal of breaking down health care barriers through biotechnology.

Provost and SVP for Academic Affairs Pam Benoit, Ph.D., will retire at the end of 2023, concluding a distinguished career in higher education administration that includes almost seven years as a transformational leader at UAB.