The UAB National Alumni Society celebrated the accomplishments of the 2020 UAB Young Alumni Rising Star Award winners during a special virtual ceremony on Thursday, September 17, 2020. These outstanding young alumni have been deemed rising stars in their careers and are exceptional role models for the students and graduates who follow them.
The College of Arts and Sciences is proud that three of the five honorees are our graduates.
Dr. Ameen Barghi, B.S., Neuroscience, 2015
Barghi was an accomplished undergraduate. He combined a major in neuroscience with a second individually designed major in translational research and worked in the lab of Dr. Edward Taub in the Department of Psychology. In 2013, he was awarded the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, a national fellowship for juniors pursuing research-oriented careers in math, the natural sciences, and engineering. A year later, he was selected as the inaugural Summer Research Scholar for the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at UAB. In 2015, he was named a Rhodes Scholar, awarded to just 32 American students to pursue fully funded graduate studies at the University of Oxford, England. Barghi was in the Science and Technology Program in the Honors College, was a member of the Early Medical School Acceptance Program and the Collat School of Business Honors Program, and was on the national championship Bioethics Bowl team, housed in the Department of Philosophy.
He graduated from Harvard Medical School and is currently doing his residency in Orthopedic Surgery at Wake Forest University.
Barghi is also involved with mentoring UAB students who are applying to competitive national fellowships. He also takes time to mentor pre-med students considering applying for out-of-state medical schools or doing gap years internationally.
Jessica Lopez, B.S., M.S., Biology, 2015 and 2016
Jessica is an Associate Athletics Director for Academics at Northern Arizona University, where she is building a department to provide academic support for student athletes. The goal is to achieve the national standards of excellence in NCAA-mandated internal academic services through advising, specialized support for under-prepared students, and interactions with coaches.
While a student at UAB, Lopez worked as a graduate assistant for the Women’s Basketball and Women’s Soccer programs. She also served as a mentor for the football team and a tutor within the athletics department. From 2012 to 2016, Jessica was a University Academic Success Center Instruction Leader and worked as a biology department representative and Blazing Start co-director.
Erika Rucker, M.P.A., 2009
Earlier this year, Erika began her position as 21st Century Community Learning Center Program Coordinator at Auburn University, where she works with grant-funded after-school and summer programs throughout Alabama.
While pursuing her masters’ in public administration, Erika worked as an after-school teacher for fifth graders in the Birmingham Regional Empowerment and Development Center (BREAD), then called Bethel Community Learning Center. After receiving her MPA, she was promoted to adult education coordinator at BREAD/Bethel.
In time, she was promoted to Project Director for BREAD, where she provided oversight for three 21st Century Community Learning Center sites, two child nutrition sites, and 12 summer food service program sites.
She has been a part of the Alabama Community Education Association, Jefferson State College Child Development Program, and Alabama Afterschool Community Network. In 2014, she was named the Extended Day Director of the Year by the Alabama Community Education Association.
