Students labeled and bagged books to be donated to child development centers in Alabama.

The new role aligns leadership of the Graduate School with the Office of Global Engagement at an intersection of two pillars of UAB’s strategic plan, Forging the Future.

This year, the university recognizes 50 years of service by Jeanne Hutchison, Ph.D., and Ferdinand Urthaler, M.D., and 45 years of service by Robert Kim M.D., and Joseph Lovetto. In addition, 294 employees with 20 or more years and 904 with five, 10 and 15 years will honored for their longevity.

A group of eight volunteers helped rebuild roads, clear deadfall logs and sticks and cleaning horse fields at Red Barn, a family-run organization that teaches low-income children with disabilities to ride horses.

Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Allen Bolton was honored by the Faculty Senate in January for his service to UAB with the new Outstanding Administrator Award for Excellence in Shared Governance, which is named for him and will be presented periodically to a UAB administrator who shows exceptional commitment to shared governance at UAB.

Gayan Wijeratne, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry, is studying versatile molecules with heme iron centers that could be useful in new cancer therapies and greener, cheaper fuel cells. He also will use this grant to attract more high school students to higher education in science.

This year, the new President’s Award for Excellence in Shared Values honors Blazers who demonstrated one or more of UAB’s shared values in the course of their work during the extraordinary times presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Assistant Professor Wenli Bi, Ph.D., in the Department of Physics will expand studies in a field that could lead to new green technologies — and more opportunities for women and underrepresented minorities in cutting-edge physics.

UAB’s Employee of the Month program has been revamped to recognize staff who demonstrate at least one of the university’s shared values. Submit a nomination for the first quarter of 2021 by March 31.

Robert Centor, M.D., one of the world’s leading experts on sore throat and a mentor to generations of medical students, will receive the highest honor of the Academic Health Center.

Fifteen students helped sort and prep donated items and distribute them at the Gardendale Civic Center drive-thru.

Brian Burnett, Ph.D., who is interim associate vice president and chief financial officer for the University of Maryland, will begin work at UAB May 1.

Maggie Amsler, a benthic ecologist and longtime member of UAB’s Antarctic research team, has been selected for membership in The Explorers Club inaugural Explorers 50 program, which recognizes remarkable people working to change the world and extend the meaning and impact of exploration.

Meet four more hardworking staff who completed their degrees this month.

The first installment, “Bending the Arc: The Vote,” which tells the stories of Black people and white allies who fought for racial justice during the 1960s, is the collaborative effort of retired and current UAB employees and community partners.

What was it like to complete a degree while working full-time during a pandemic? Three employees share their stories ahead of this weekend’s commencement ceremonies.

The newly created role will advance effective learning, teaching, scholarship and service as detailed in UAB’s strategic plan, Forging the Future.

“Is Mommy a Doctor or a Superhero?,” written by emergency medicine physician Amy Faith Ho, M.D., uses colorful illustrations and whimsical characters to show that doctor moms are heroes and children can find superheroes within themselves.

University Professor Jennifer Kilgo, Ph.D., is the recipient of the Ellen Gregg Ingalls/UAB National Alumni Society Award for Lifetime Achievement in Teaching, the highest award for teaching presented by UAB.

With his idea for a coil that travels through the vasculature much like a sailboat riding the breeze, a UAB neuroradiologist has earned a commercialization grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

Faculty, staff, student and community innovators were recognized for their 2020 contributions to COVID-19 research, innovation and entrepreneurship during the fifth annual UAB Innovation Awards presented by the Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Oct. 29.

A faculty member in the School of Health Professions turns his own experiences running research projects into a vision for a comprehensive, automated digital solution with the help of funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

Shauntice Allen, assistant professor of environmental health sciences, is the winner of the 2020 Odessa Woolfolk Community Service Award for her work to influence change in the greater Birmingham community and beyond through community engagement.

A novel detergent-like compound developed by UAB researchers that blocks HIV and HSV viruses from entering cells could have the same effect against the virus that causes COVID-19. The team is exploring the compound’s potential with a commercialization grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

Colleagues explain say retiring Animal Resources Program Director Samuel Cartner, DVM, Ph.D., has helped shape the institution’s research.

Jeff Walker, professor and chair for the Department Criminal Justice, is the winner of the 2020 Sam Brown Bridge Builder Award for his interdisciplinary, collaborative efforts across campus.

ScopeAssist, invented by a physician and an engineer, is designed to help surgeons deal with the rigors associated with endoscopic surgeries.

Doctors don’t have anything to reliably collect urine from neonates. A solution to this problem earned a commercialization grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

Jones has announced she will retire from UAB in February, after 27 years of service to UAB and 12 as the institution’s senior HR leader.

Nominations are being accepted for one of two new awards that will debut in 2021.

The vaccine pipeline rests largely on a single tree in Chile. A sustainable, cost-effective solution from this UAB chemist earned him a commercialization grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

Most PPE goes on the provider, not the patient. A solution to this problem from UAB faculty earned them a commercialization grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

An interdisciplinary team of faculty and graduate students are using machine learning to identify geographic areas in which social determinants contribute to the COVID-19 burden as a way to improve the public health response.

Ten graduate faculty were honored with the UAB Graduate Dean’s Excellence in Mentorship Award during a virtual reception Sept. 9. See what the award recipients say they learned from UAB’s up-and-coming scientists.

Provost Pam Benoit and YWCA Central Alabama’s CEO LaRhonda Magras will team up Sept. 18 for #Sharethemicnow, a national campaign to amplify the voices, perspectives and work of Black women in America.

For his dedication to aging research and science communication, biology Professor and Chair Steven Austad, Ph.D., has been awarded this year’s Ireland Prize for Scholarly Distinction.

Frank Messina, DBA, professor of accounting and faculty athletics representative, exemplifies core values that propel institutional excellence.