Posted on July 23, 2002 at 10:50 a.m.
BIRMINGHAM, AL — UAB alumna and former faculty member Carol Garrison, Ph.D., acting president of The University of Louisville, has been elected president of The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).
The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees voted unanimously to name Garrison UAB’s sixth president in a meeting Tuesday, July 23, at the Alys Stephens Center on the UAB campus.
Garrison will succeed UAB interim president Malcolm Portera, who is chancellor of the three-campus system. Portera was asked by the Board to serve temporarily as president following the June 1 departure of W. Ann Reynolds.
“Dr. Garrison is, by every measure, a perfect fit for UAB,” said trustee John Russell Thomas, who chaired the search committee. “She is an innovator, a collaborator, and a visionary administrator.”
In nominating Garrison for the position, Chancellor Portera cited highlights of her background that bear an “uncanny” similarity to the goals and mission of UAB.
He said, “At the University of Louisville, Carol Garrison has been a leader in garnering significantly increased private and public support, attracting and retaining top quality faculty, and building the University’s research portfolio, particularly in the health sciences, while promoting interdisciplinary research.”
Named interim president at the University of Louisville in June, Garrison had served as chief academic officer and chief operating officer of that institution since 1997.
In that capacity, she has had oversight for a growing medical center, and helped create an undergraduate research initiative and expand the honors program.
With more than 20,000 students and 5,200 employees, the University of Louisville includes schools of medicine, dentistry and law as well as arts and sciences, business, engineering, education and other disciplines. The institution recently completed a $350 million capital campaign.
Garrison, a native of Montclair, NJ, earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She received her master’s degree from the School of Nursing at UAB in 1976 and earned a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Certificate from the school in 1978. From 1976 to 1978, she was an assistant professor in nursing. In 1982, she earned a Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she was an assistant professor.
She joined the faculty at the University of South Carolina in 1982. She was named professor and chair of epidemiology and biostatistics in 1992, and in 1994 became associate provost and dean of the graduate school. In 1997 she became provost at the University of Louisville.
“UAB’s history of growth and accomplishment is remarkable,” Garrison said. “That record has been achieved through an entrepreneurial, ‘roll up your sleeves and get it done’ attitude that I find exciting and enticing. I am honored and eager to lead this great university.”
In addition to her skills as an administrator, Garrison is a respected researcher and educator. Over the past 17 years, she has been awarded more than $5.9 million in federal research funding. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Delta Omega and Sigma Xi. She was honored twice as the Carolina Distinguished Professor.
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