Explore UAB

did you know?

A selection of fun facts, surprising figures and other distinctions from across campus.

Transplant - 50

UAB's transplant program celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018. UAB transplant services performed more than

14,000

transplants during that time.

UABHS - RNICU

The UAB Women & Infants Center houses the only Level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Alabama.

$12.1 billion economic impact
$12.1B

UAB's annual economic impact.

UAB worldwide US News rankings 1122

UAB was ranked among the top

8%

of universities worldwide in the U.S. News & World Report 2022-2023 "Best Global Universities" list.

Research awards FY2022

UAB received a record

$715M

in research grants and awards for FY2022. Over the past five years, extramural sponsored funding at UAB has increased by nearly 50%.

Barefield gift

A transformative gift of $10 million from UAB alumnus J. Frank Barefield Jr. will name the J. Frank Barefield, Jr. Department of Criminal Justice in the College of Arts and Sciences and the UAB J. Frank Barefield, Jr. Entrepreneurship Program in the Collat School of Business.

2022 Enrollment

For the

5th

straight year, UAB enrollment surpassed 21,500.

Insight Into Diversity Oct 2022

UAB was recognized as a 

2022

Diversity Champion and Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award recipient by INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.

Conde Nast 2022 Birmingham

Conde Nast Traveler named Birmingham as one of its "Best Places to Go in 2022."

6 dual-degree programs
6

MBA dual-degree programs offered through the Collat School of Business and other schools on campus focused on medicine, engineering and public health, including DMD/MBA, MD/MBA, and OD/MBA programs.

Live HealthSmart Alabama 1120

Live HealthSmart Alabama, the winner of UAB's first Grand Challenge, conducted community COVID-19 testing at 26 different sites in Jefferson County.

TWG 2022

While UAB hosted The World Games from July 7-17, 2022, Campus Dining prepared 10,000 meals for up to 3,400 diners per day.

OCCC 50th anniversary

The O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB celebrated its

50th

anniversary in June 2022 and announced a five-year, $27.5 million renewal of its core National Cancer Institute grant the same month.

Xenotransplant

In a breakthrough study published in January 2022, UAB researchers proved that genetically modified pig kidneys can be transplanted into a human.

Heersink gift
$95M

Transformative gift, the largest in UAB history, established the UAB Heersink School of Medicine in 2021.

Forbes Ranking

Forbes named UAB its

#1

Best Large Employer for 2021.

16 programs in top 25, U.S. News “Best Graduate Schools” list 0722
16

programs in top 25, U.S. News & World Report 2023 "America's Best Graduate Schools" list.

Equal Access Birmingham

The Equal Access Birmingham Clinic, run by UAB Heersink School of Medicine students, sees hundreds of patients per year in a dedicated space just off campus.

UAB ranks 33rd in federal research funding, based on 2021 figures, which is

17th

among public universities. 

Michael Saag

With research funding of more than $100M to date, Michael Saag, M.D., has helped transform AIDS from a deadly virus into a manageable chronic disease, and continues to work to end the epidemic altogether.

SOPH
Only

accredited school of public health in Alabama.

Forbes Diversity Ranking

UAB was named America's

No. 1

Best Employer for Diversity among colleges and universities by Forbes in 2021.

Protective Stadium 2022

Protective Stadium, a state-of-the-art, 45,000-seat venue in downtown Birmingham, is the new home of UAB Blazers Football. The stadium opened in 2021.

Dentistry CARES

The School of Dentistry averages

64,000

patient visits and 8,400 new patients served each year.

Vaccinations 2022

UAB has administered more than

267,000

COVID vaccinations to residents of all 67 counties in Alabama as of January 2022.

Highlands Geriatric ED

The emergency department at UAB Hospital-Highlands has been designated as a Level 1 Geriatric Emergency Department, the only one in Alabama, the first in the Southeast and one of only 17 globally.

Gift of Sight 2021 0222

212

low-income and underinsured patients received free exams, glasses and other vision care from UAB School of Optometry faculty, staff and students in the Gift of Sight event in December 2021.

Optometry Black Belt

More than

13,000

people in Alabama's Black Belt communities have been treated by School of Optometry vision scientists, doctors and students since 2002.

In 2021, Collat School of Business students saved local working families more than

$500,000

in commercial tax preparation fees by volunteering their time to prepare 1,325 tax returns for free. Their work secured more than $2.68 million in refunds for the families.

OCCC Health Disparity Research 0222

Cancer health disparity research funding in the O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center has increased from $22 million to more than $63 million since 2007 as part of a partnership between UAB, Tuskegee University and Morehouse School of Medicine.

BlazerPulse, launched in 2019, has logged more than

95,000

hours of service by students and employees with 90+ community partners.

ArtPlay outreach

ArtPlay, the Alys Stephens Center’s home for arts education, has served more than

140,000

individuals in the Birmingham area through the arts since it launched in January 2011.

Innovation Depot

UAB is a founding partner in Innovation Depot, the largest high-tech incubator in the Southeast, which had an economic impact of $3 billion-plus over the past five years.

240+

degree and certificate programs at UAB.

ASC

UAB's Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2021.

With more than 26,000 employees, UAB is Alabama's

largest

single-site, non-federal employer.

2,590

students enrolled in the UAB Honors College in fall 2021, its largest-ever class.

UAB's fall 2021 freshman class has a 

26.5

mean ACT score.

Research Investigators 0122

UAB's research team includes

1,239

active externally funded investigators.

Licenses/Patents 0122
47

licenses and 19 patents issued in FY2021.

Babies born at UAB Hospital 2021
4,115

babies delivered at UAB Hospital in FY2021.

HIIE Impact 1021
$5.01M

licensing income in FY2021 from UAB research

UAB Hospital

UAB Hospital is the

8th

largest hospital in the United States, according to the Beckers Hospital Review 2021 rankings.

UAB Hospital was granted recognition as a Magnet-designated organization, a prestigious symbol of nursing excellence, for an unprecedented 5th consecutive time in 2019, becoming only the

21st

hospital worldwide to achieve this distinction.

UABHS - Every county

UAB Medicine provides care to people in every county in Alabama.

Best Hospitals US News
8

of UAB’s specialties ranked among the nation’s top 50 programs of their kind in the 2021-2022 Best Hospitals report from U.S. News & World Report.

Proton therapy center 0620

UAB's new Proton Therapy Center is one of 36 in the U.S. and the

first

in Alabama.

Infusion Therapy Clinic 0620

UAB's newly renovated, expanded Infusion Therapy Clinic is the largest and

only

magnet-designated infusion therapy center in the state.

Times Higher Ed

UAB ranked 

#1

in the U.S., and in the top 12 worldwide, in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, 2019 Young University Rankings.

UAB's Master of Science in Health Administration program is ranked

#1

in the country in the 2020 U.S. News Best Graduate School Rankings.

UAB 50th

UAB celebrated its 

50th

anniversary in 2019.

AGHI 0620

More than 6,100 participants in all

67

Alabama counties have enrolled in the UAB-led Alabama Genomic Health Initiative as of February 2020.

Times Higher Ed well being 2020

UAB ranked

7th

in the world by Times Higher Education in 2020 for research and education efforts around health and well-being.

A record

8

UAB students and recent alumni have been selected to receive Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards in 2020.

University Hall 0620

University Hall, dedicated in August 2019, is the first LEED-certified building at UAB.

New Honors House

Honors Hall, which opened in August 2020, is one of the latest campus buildings to be LEED certified for its energy- and water-saving design.

Green Hall 1120

McMahon Hall, which opened in spring 2021, houses more than 730 students and includes a dining hall seating roughly 170 students.

Sci Engineering Complex 1120

The first phase of UAB's Science-Engineering Complex is scheduled to open in February 2023.

Underrepresented students 1120
42.5%

of UAB students are from underrepresented groups.

Covid trial nitric oxide

UAB is among the

first

in the U.S. to offer clinical trial for the treatment of patients with severe COVID-19 using nitric oxide.

UAB Libraries investment 0620
$2.2M

investment in UAB Libraries has made them model 21st century learning spaces.

Technology Innovation Center 1021

The Technology Innovation Center, a new home for UAB's Cheaha supercomputer and IT services, opened in September 2021.

CFAR

UAB is one of

7

inaugural NIH-designated Centers for AIDS Research.

Parcak pyramids
17

lost pyramids and more than 1,000 settlements discovered by UAB space archaeologist Sarah Parcak using satellite imaging. Parcak has won the 2016 TED Prize for her pioneering work.

Dental network

The UAB School of Dentistry is transforming oral health nationwide through its leadership of the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network.

Space freezers + icon

Special freezers developed by UAB engineers are in orbit aboard the International Space Station.

Mars

A ridge on Mars is named for UAB physicist Thomas Wdowiak, Ph.D., who played an important role in NASA's missions to the Red Planet.

CCC research ROI
14:1

Return on investment from research in the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. With base funding of $10 million, Cancer Center investigators receive $140 million in grants and contracts.

Udall Centers

In 2019, UAB was selected as one of 

8

national Udall Centers of Excellence in Parkinson's disease.

APLU designation

The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities has designated UAB as an Innovation and Economic Prosperity University, among 65 higher education institutions nationwide to receive this prestigious honor. 

Altec Styslinger 0620

Scientists recruited to work in the new Altec/Styslinger Genomic Medicine & Data Sciences Building will have a projected

$100M

economic impact on the Birmingham area.

Blazer Kitchen 0620

Blazer Kitchen volunteers have served more than 100,000 meals and donated

3,500+

hours of their time.

Habitat House 0620
3,352

UAB employees and students have built six Habitat Houses, volunteering 15,800 hours

Marshall and Rhodes

Engineering student Ophelia Johnson won the prestigious Marshall Scholarship in Nov. 2015. UAB produced both a Marshall and Rhodes Scholar in the space of a year.

Green and Gold Fund

The student-led Green and Gold Fund manages more than $500,000 in assets.

UAB is home to one of

9

World Health Organization/Pan American Health Organization collaborating centers in the United States focused on nursing and midwifery.

AVID

UAB's recording studio is one of a handful in the country to feature the AVID System 5 Fusion Console, giving students professional-level experience.

Gospel Choir

The UAB Gospel Choir, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2015, has performed sold-out concerts around the world.

Student Center

The $48.5-million Hill Student Center includes a 276-seat theater, multiple dining options and more in 160,000+ square feet of space.

The Mock Trial, Ethics Bowl and Bioethics Bowl teams in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences have all won

national

championships.

Birmingham was

#24

on Zagat's "Most Exciting Food Cities in America" list in 2017.

There are

250+

registered student organizations at UAB.

100 blocks

UAB's campus covers 100 city blocks and is just steps away from top Birmingham attractions, including Railroad Park, Regions Field and nationally famous dining options.

Travel Channel
Only

U.S. city on the Travel Channel's list of 11 "Next Great Destinations" for 2016

UAB has one of the only Ph.D.-level medical sociology programs in the world.

Supercomputer

UAB's research supercomputer offers

500+

teraflops of processing power, making it one of the five fastest at institutions in the Southeast.

100Gig

In 2016, UAB was the first Alabama university to launch a

100GB/s

Internet connection

UAB Hospital receives five Women's Choice Award "Best Hospital" designations

UAB Hospital received the 2019 Women’s Choice Award "America's Best Hospital" designations for five practice areas: breast care, heart care, cancer care, obstetrics and bariatric surgery.

NMT and Health Physics

UAB offers the 

only

Health Physics and Nuclear Medicine Technology programs in Alabama.

UAB's new Master of Science in Healthcare Simulation program, launched in fall 2018, is one of only two in the country that does not require a specific previous degree for entry.

Economic Development Administration Projects 1120

The U.S. Economic Development Administration has invested $300,000 in early-stage commercialization development of 11 projects by UAB faculty and staff.

UAB Kidney Chain 1120

An ongoing living donor kidney transplant chain at UAB is the world's longest. The chain of surgeries has given more than 

110

people so far the gift of life.

WBHM
90,000

listeners in North Central Alabama tune in weekly to NPR affiliate WBHM on UAB's campus. The station celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2016; it went on the air on Dec. 5, 1976.

Institute for Arts in Medicine

The UAB Institute for Arts in Medicine has served more than 61,000 patients, families and staff members at UAB — and more than 15,000 people at partner sites such as Children’s of Alabama, CARES and the Exceptional Foundation since 2013.

Nightingale
58

original letters from Florence Nightingale are on display at the UAB School of Nursing.

Tree Campus USA

UAB's campus is home to more than 4,400 trees, earning the Arbor Day Foundation's Tree Campus USA designation for five consecutive years.

Campaign Billion

The Campaign for UAB surpassed $1 billion raised in November 2018. 

The employee-led UAB Benevolent Fund works with more than

140

local nonprofit organizations.

In the decade from 2003-2013, UAB's Health Administration program was one of the nation's leaders in the number of black doctoral recipients graduated, according to a 2017 study.

UAB has

8

faculty members elected as fellows of the National Academy of Inventors.