UAB - The Reporter - Celebrate Women's History Month with the women who shape UAB

Celebrate Women's History Month with the women who shape UAB

Written by Haley Herfurth

March 06, 2018
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Whether it’s UAB’s first Employee of the Month or 2017 NSF CAREER Award winners, from innovative faculty to dedicated staff, women have been integral to helping bring the UAB’s medical and academic prowess to the national and international forefront throughout the past five decades. For Women’s History month, the UAB Reporter has gathered examples of its more recent coverage of women at UAB.

In UAB’s case, it’s not just knowledge that changes worlds — it’s the women behind it.

Women in Charge

Business faculty use ‘Harry Potter’ universe to teach management to muggles

Barbara Wech and Annetta Dolowitz sort students into fictional Hogwarts houses to teach leadership and management in MG 309 — with a little help from magic

Meet Nancy Harrington, new coordinator of Adventure Recreation

From snorkeling with manatees to kayaking on the Gulf, Adventure Recreation coordinator Nancy Harrington has a dozen trips open to UAB employees and students planned through April; Adventure Rec hosted similar trips last fall.

Kennedy is helping transfer students start strong — at UAB and across Alabama

Transfer students comprised 17 percent of UAB’s student population this past fall. Collat’s Karen Kennedy, Ph.D., and the Alabama Association for Higher Education in Business have worked to streamline the transfer process.

Women in the Arts

Chapman's book named 'Outstanding Academic Title of 2017' by national association

"The Legal Epic: 'Paradise Lost' and the Early Modern Law" by Alison Chapman was named an Outstanding Academic Title of 2017 by "Choice," a magazine from the Association of Colleges and Research Libraries. The book by Chapman, a professor in and chair of the Department of English, was featured in May 2017.

New kind of novel made women doctors respectable in Victorian era

As part of a book project, Assistant Professor of English Margaret Jay Jessee examines works of early 19th-century male novelists who portrayed women doctors as inherently evil and the women writers who worked to reverse that depiction.

McPherson's book says media-driven celebrity emerged in the 18th century

Art history Professor Heather McPherson's newest book, "Art and Celebrity in the Age of Reynolds and Siddons," examines the role of portraiture, printmaking and the popularity of the theater in creating celebrity as we know it today.

Women in Science

Virtual reality may hold pain-relieving promise for paraplegic patients

A virtual reality game created through a partnership between Zina Trost, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, and Engineering's Immersive Experience Lab may have the potential to revolutionize treatment of neuropathic pain.
New courses explore the role of science, technology in world history

Amber Genau received a 2017 NSF CAREER Award to fund her research into the behavior of certain metal alloys and expand a Materials Camp for high school students - as well as create new courses, via a partnership with André Millard, that shed light on the role of technology in learning "where we come from and where we are going."
Riddle researches the influence of a chromatin protein family on genes

Nicole Riddle, Ph.D., received a 2017 NSF CAREER Award to fund her research into the on the Heterochromatin Protein 1 (HP1) family and develop a laboratory course to introduce transfer students at UAB to original research. Read more about her research and upcoming resources to help other young investigators compete for this honor.

Women in Medicine

Nursing's Baker works tirelessly to improve care for the elderly

Natalie Baker's work on state boards and in professional service organizations helps ensure concerns about patient care translate into competencies in the classroom.

Speck advocates better care for victims of violence

Since UAB Nursing Professor Patricia Speck, DNSC, began working in public health primary care in the early 1980s, she says she has seen significant progress in U.S. views on domestic violence. She's also a part of a group of UAB nursing faculty helped create a publication designed to help better prepare professionals across multiple disciplines to respond to cases of child abuse.

Lindsay Hall wins UAB’s inaugural DAISY Award

Hall, a labor and delivery nurse in Women and Infant Services, was selected to receive the new award last year, which honors extraordinary nurses who are making an impact in their health care setting.

Women in UAB History

Meet Gladys McQueen, UAB's first Employee of the Month

In January 1978, UAB honored its first Employee of the Month, Gladys McQueen, a keypunch supervisor in the Central Computing Facility. Today, women still make UAB a great place to work, comprising eight out of the 11 EOTM winners since April 2017: Get to know Sharon Johnson, Amie Traylor, Rachel Schwartz, Mary Dougherty-Bergeron, Mattie Lowery-Poole, Tiffany Hearns, Kathy Tubbs and Jennifer Ragland.
Courting success on the hardwood

Forty years ago, Fran Sharp Merrill became the first head coach of the then-named Lady Blazers basketball team in August 1977. This past week, UAB's Women's Basketball team, headed by Coach Randy Norton, claimed its first Conference USA regular season championship and began as the the No. 1 seed at the C-USA Tournament in Frisco, Texas, which starts today and ends March 10.
A winning history

During the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, UAB Women's Track Assistant Coach Vonetta Flowers became the first black person to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics - and ended a 50-year run since the United States had won a medal in the bobsled event.

Women in the Community

Kong creates a culture of acceptance for people with special needs

Michele Kong, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, is the co-founder of KultureCity, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding community accessibility for those with disabilities. "Sometimes you don't realize the need is there," she said. "Once you see it, you can't un-see it."
INTO UAB reaches beyond campus to support girls in Sri Lanka

This year, Room to Read Sri Lanka will receive $9,800 - enough to send more than 32 girls to school - because Adviser Achala Gunasekara-Rockwell, Ph.D., nominated the organization for an INTO Giving grant, which supports education projects in developing countries such as her homeland.
Course examines Birmingham's complicated relationship with communism

The city's early but lesser-known role in the growth of the communist party in the Southeast may have made the civil rights movement here inevitable, says Pam Sterne King, an assistant professor of history whose spring HY 481 course researched the history of communism in Birmingham.

Employees of the Month

UAB’s first Employee of the Month was keypunch supervisor Gladys McQueen, and since April 2017 alone, women at UAB have comprised eight of the 11 Employee of the Month winners.

Johnson 'is a beacon of light' for Facilities division

Sharon Johnson, outside construction supervisor for UAB Facilities, is UAB's Employee of the Month. "She is always thinking of her duties, always thinking of others," a colleague said.

Traylor creates positive environment in nephrology lab

Amie Traylor, lab manager in the Division of Nephrology, is UAB's Employee of the Month. "If you ask for something, she will get it to you," one co-worker said.

Schwartz 'is always a team player' both with colleagues and patients

UAB's Employee of the Month Rachel Schwartz keeps things running smoothly in a stressful area with a calm demeanor and caring attitude. "She brings a consistency to the team that others appreciate," said a nominator.

Good-natured Dougherty-Bergeron keeps CFAR on track

Mary Dougherty-Bergeron, business officer II in the UAB Center for Aids Research, is the Employee of the Month. "Loyalty and dedication are Mary's middle names," a colleague said.

Lowery-Poole sets a 'shining example' in Pediatric Dentistry

Mattie Lowery-Poole, patient service coordinator in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, is UAB's Employee of the Month. "I always find that she over-delivers when she is asked to do something for our department," a co-worker said.

Hearns' smile can be 'detected over the telephone'

Assistant Registrar Tiffany Hearns, whose job it is to assign classrooms and meeting spaces every semester for every class and every student, is UAB's Employee of the Month. "I don't know what we would do without her," a nominator said, "and I hope to never find out."

Tubbs believes 'everyone has time to stop and help one another'

Kathy Tubbs, an administrative associate in the School of Education dean's office who is noted for her kindness and enthusiasm, is UAB's Employee of the Month. "a day doesn't go by that I or one of us will say, 'Let's go ask Kathy, she will know who to ask or what to do,'" a colleague said.

Ragland believes 'you need to have fun along the way'

Jennifer Ragland, whose job as director of payroll services essentially entails "orchestrating a storm center 76 times a year," is UAB's Employee of the Month. "Jennifer is undaunted and fulfills her role for both halves without fail," said a colleague.

Can’t get enough of how women are helping create UAB’s future? Check out the UAB Reporter’s 2017 feature, “Women Who,” to learn about women on campus who Discover, Serve, Lead, Inspire and Innovate.