Four distinguished graduates will speak to the crowd gathered to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and celebrate the institution’s inaugural University Day Thursday, Sept. 24. Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend as UAB recognizes “Forty Years of Breakthroughs” during a convocation that will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Alys Stephens Center Jemison Concert Hall. (For important information on parking, visit www.uab.edu/parking.)

The ceremony, led by UAB President Carol Garrison and UAB Provost Eli Capilouto, also will feature 40 distinguished UAB alumni representing the graduating classes from 1969 to 2009. Chancellor Malcolm Portera of the University of Alabama System will speak, and the four graduates, one from each decade – Tommie Cummings, George Little, Marquita Furness Davis and Brian Sims – will present remarks during the ceremony.