September 21, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) materials science and engineering Professor Rosalia N. Scripa, Ph.D., has been named the 2007 recipient of the Ellen Gregg Ingalls/UAB National Alumni Society Award for Lifetime Achievement in Teaching. She will be honored at the Alumni Leadership Recognition and Awards Luncheon 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, at The Club, 1 Robert S. Smith Drive.

The award is presented annually to a full-time regular UAB faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding dedication to teaching throughout his or her UAB career.

Dr. Scripa is being honored for 30 years of teaching and mentoring graduate and undergraduate students. She serves as professor of materials science and engineering and adjunct professor of biomedical engineering at UAB. She also is an adjunct professor at the University of Alabama. Scripa was the first full-time woman faculty member hired in engineering at UAB.

Scripa has published numerous articles and a book chapter and has won numerous awards for teaching since early in her career, including the World Congress of Arts, Sciences and Communications Lifetime Achievement Award in Recognition of a Lifetime of Contributions to Science and Education in 2005. She won a Golden Key Success Award for Teaching Excellence in 2000. The Alabama Society of Professional Engineers selected Scripa as Outstanding Engineering Faculty Member in the State of Alabama in 1997. The American Biographical Society named her Woman of the Year in 1999 in recognition of outstanding community and professional achievement.

In 1996, Scripa was named Outstanding Woman Faculty Member at UAB, and she won the UAB Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching for the School of Engineering in 1992. Her first recognition as a UAB faculty member came in 1979, when Dow Chemical Co., gave Scripa its Outstanding Young Faculty Member Award for the Southeast.

From 1995-1996, Scripa was an assistant program scientist at NASA Headquarters in the Materials Science, Microgravity Science and Applications Division, an experience she was able to bring back into the classroom at UAB.

Scripa earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in materials science and engineering in 1975 and 1976, respectively, at the University of Florida. She received her master’s degree in ceramic science in 1972 at Pennsylvania State University and her bachelor’s degree in ceramic engineering from Alfred University (New York) in 1970.

“Dr. Scripa has touched many lives and has made a substantial difference in the careers of numerous students,” said Linda Lucas, Ph.D., dean of the UAB School of Engineering. “She maintains contact with many of her students after they leave UAB and has been instrumental in many graduates reaching their goals. Dr. Scripa cares about students, and they care deeply about her.”

Helping her students has been a leading motivation for Scripa. “Receiving this award is a culminating point in my career and one which is very special to me,” Scripa said. “No words can describe what it means to have your colleagues, and especially your current and former students, recognize you for your lifetime commitment to teaching.”