During his nearly 47-year UAB tenure, philosophy Professor Greg Pence has been instrumental in collaborations that enhance the research and teaching activities of the university.
It’s unanimous: Gregory E. Pence, Ph.D., is a shining example of the ways in which faculty can contribute to the educational mission of the university — across departmental and school boundaries — and turn words into actions that make a difference.
During his nearly 47-year UAB tenure, Pence, a distinguished bioethicist and professor in the UAB Department of Philosophy, has created interdisciplinary ethics courses and provided instruction across multiple schools, supported academic medical research and administration and fostered understanding of and change on important social issues on campus and in the community.
“There are few faculty members at UAB who have such a well-established and long history of collaboration across the entire campus. He is a true citizen of UAB and one of those rare faculty eager to lend his expertise and time to enhance all pillars of the UAB mission,” said Mike Sloane, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and director of the University Honors Program.
In recognition of his deep and abiding commitment to cross-campus collaboration that enhances the research and teaching activities of the university, Pence received the 2022 Sam Brown Bridge Builder Award. He was honored, along with other award winners and newly promoted and tenured faculty during the New Faculty and Faculty Recognition Reception Sept. 13.
What, one might ask, is the secret to getting people with varying agendas to work toward a common goal?
“In my opinion, it’s getting them to form mutually beneficial relationships, not always an easy initial task,” Pence said. The Bridge Builder award is one he is especially honored to receive “because it’s a unique award recognizing cross-campus activities and because the family of Sam Brown was present when I received the award.”
A man of action
It takes more than talk to make things happen, particularly when you are trying to build consensus among individuals with very different disciplinary agendas.
“Greg is a man of action who can work with people with a variety of backgrounds to get things done, both at UAB and in the greater Birmingham community,” Sloane said.
Notably, for the past 27 years, Greg has directed EMSAP, the early-acceptance programs for the schools of Medicine, Dentistry and Optometry, and many of those enter UAB through the University Honors Program that Sloane directs. As an instructor, Pence “has a unique ability to translate his expertise, knowledge and intellectual curiosity to undergraduates.
“My colleagues in the department of philosophy — as well as many other departments — have walked on bridges that Dr. Pence built.” |
“Under his leadership, these programs have grown to achieve stellar national reputations and attract hundreds of highly qualified students from around the country,” Sloane said.
While at UAB, Pence advises these outstanding students and helps ensure they have tremendous success, says his colleague Kevin Ray McCain, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Philosophy. McCain noted, for example, that Pence’s students have received highly competitive Rhodes, Marshall, Goldwater and Fulbright scholarships.
Pence also has helped some of those undergraduate students become national champions. In 2010, a Pence-coached team won the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl; additionally, he coached three separate UAB teams to victory at Bioethics Bowl — in 2011, 2015 and 2019. The successes of these teams relied on Pence’s ability to collaborate with experts from multiple disciplines to help advise the teams, McCain says.
By his action and example, Pence “clearly demonstrates a deep and abiding commitment to cross-campus and community collaborations that enhance the research and teaching activities of the university,” McCain said. “My colleagues in the department of philosophy — as well as many other departments — have walked on bridges that Dr. Pence built.”
Bigger than the sum of our parts
Craig J. Hoesley, M.D., senior associate dean for Medical Education in the Heersink School of Medicine, has worked closely with Pence for more than two decades. In his estimation, “Greg Pence is a shining example of how education-specific collaborative efforts can grow programs and elevate multiple schools on our campus.
"Greg Pence is a shining example of how education-specific collaborative efforts can grow programs and elevate multiple schools on our campus." |
“Every health professional school on our campus has benefited from the EMSAP program and there are numerous examples of EMSAP graduates scattered across our faculty who are making significant contributions in UAB research, clinical and educational programs,” Hoesley said. “I am not aware of an example of any other UAB faculty member who has demonstrated this breadth of educational outreach on our campus.”
Mike Saag, emeritus professor in the School of Medicine and director of UAB’s Center for Aids Research, first worked with Pence in the 1980s during the early years of the AIDS epidemic. “He was remarkably committed to education of students, faculty and the community on the unique challenges HIV patients experienced during that horrible era.
“Greg stood out as a stalwart in our efforts to reduce stigma, promote acceptance and help lead UAB’s remarkable response to the epidemic,” Saag said. Putting action to words, Pence chaired the AIDS Prevention Committee and the Birmingham Aids Outreach Board of Directors and was founder of A Baby’s Place, a home in Birmingham’s Southside neighborhood for unwanted HIV-positive babies.
“He was a hero to many during those years, including me,” Saag said. “Since those early days I have watched with pride and amazement at Greg’s continued contributions to UAB across the campus.”
Over the years, Saag also worked with the award’s namesake, Sam Brown, and knew him well. “Greg Pence embodies all that is good about Sam Brown as a generous mentor, engaged faculty member, bridge-builder and citizen of UAB, Birmingham and the state of Alabama. I can think of no one better to receive this honor than Greg Pence.”