UAB has undertaken a series of strategic plans to achieve its remarkable growth in just 50 years — each serving as a blueprint for what was to come.

For example, the UAB21 plan, refined in 2010, led to notable achievements, such as the Alabama Drug Discovery Alliance, which is accelerating the efforts to treat Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer, diabetes and kidney disease and more. Subsequent strategic plans expanded the Honors College and created the Blazing Start initiative to give more Birmingham-area high school graduates greater access to UAB educational opportunities.

More recently, Forging the Future produced a new core curriculum, launched a Grand Challenge, led to record-breaking enrollment and research expenditures and unparalleled giving by donors and alumni. Ten years of strategic growth are chronicled in this spring 2023 edition of UAB Magazine.

The new strategic plan, Forging Ahead, refines UAB's mission, vision, values and goals — and outlines institutionwide strategies for achieving them. It also provides a framework to guide units in shaping plans that help achieve institutional priorities. 

The elements of the new plan — mission, vision, values, pillars and foundations — will be presented publicly and published here in August 2023.