February 23, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, AL — The University of Alabama at Birmingham will honor four local women as the UAB Outstanding Women for 2005 during a ceremony 4:30 p.m. Thursday, March 10, in the Bartow Arena Green and Gold Room, 617 13th Street South.
The UAB Women’s Center and the UAB Women’s Studies Program present the awards annually during Women’s History Month to honor female faculty, staff, students and community leaders who have mentored or served other women, taken a courageous stance or overcome adversity. Candidates for the award are nominated by Birmingham residents and selected by a committee of university women.
The 2005 winners are: Outstanding Faculty Member Sheri Spaine Long, Outstanding Undergraduate Student Liz Reed and Outstanding Woman in the Community Carman McCain. Winner of the newly named Susan D. Marchase Annual Outstanding Woman Administrator Award is Jan Hitchcock. This award was renamed this year in honor of Marchase, who was named the Outstanding Woman Administrator in 2002. Marchase, former director of administration and fiscal affairs for UAB's Department of Medicine, died Dec. 26, 2004.
“We were very saddened by the December death of Susan Marchase, and we are proud the administrator award could be renamed in her honor,” said Caroline West, director of the UAB Women’s Center. “As we celebrate the contributions and achievements of this year’s winners, we will remember Susan. We also will remember Charlotte Davis, who died just two weeks ago. Charlotte was the 2004 Outstanding Woman Administrator and former associate director of UAB’s Institutional Review Board. These women exemplify, as do their fellow recipients past and present, the qualities of professionalism, character, heart and service that define these awards.”
Sheri Spaine Long, Ph.D., is chair of the Department of Foreign Languages And Literatures in the UAB School of Arts & Humanities. In 2002, she received the UAB President’s Excellence in Teaching Award, and in 2000 the Outstanding Foreign Language Teacher Award for post-secondary schools presented by the Alabama Association of Foreign Language Teachers. She is known to her students as an energetic and inventive teacher, mentor and career counselor.
Elizabeth “Liz” Reed is a student in the UAB Honors Program and plans to receiver her undergraduate degree in art in May, some 46 years after first entering college in 1959. She won the sculpture award at the fall 2004 student exhibition. Twenty-five years ago, she co-founded the Women’s Network and Women’s Breakfast Club in Birmingham. More recently, she undertook the direction of the Birmingham Art Association and Birmingham Arts Journal.
Carmen McCain is a nurse and the founder of the nationally recognized non-profit organization Mothers Against Violence and its affiliate organizations One Thousand Men and Lemonade Makers. She formed the organization after the 1992 drive-by shooting death of her 16-year-old son, Nezariah “Bonkey” McCain. She also has helped establish numerous schools for the underserved and taught classes at Jesus Christ Christian School and Certified Nursing Assistant classes at World of Opportunity Adult Center. She also has taught leadership classes at Samford University. McCain is a UAB alumna.
Janice “Jan” Hitchcock, MPA, is a grants and contract officer in the Office of Grants and Contracts Administration. Her numerous activities include membership in the United Way of Central Alabama, the Alabama Association for Women in Education and the American Society for Public Administration. She also has been coordinator of the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Fellow program, immediate past president of the UAB Benevolent Fund and academic adviser for the Master of Public Administration Program. She is a member of the board for the UAB National Alumni Society.
Downloadable Images
To save images from your browser window, follow these directions:
- Windows users: follow the "Download now" link below and then right-click the large image — select "Save picture as ..." from the menu to save the image to your local computer.
- Macintosh users: follow the "Download now" link below and then control-click (hold down control while clicking) the large image — select "Download Image to Disk" to save the image to your local computer.
![]() |
Image Size: |
![]() |
Image Size: |
![]() |
Image Size: |