September 2, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB sociology Professor Ferris J. Ritchey, Ph.D., has been named this year's recipient of the Ellen Gregg Ingalls/UAB National Alumni Society Award for Lifetime Achievement in Teaching. He will be honored at the Alumni Leadership Recognition and Awards Luncheon on Thursday, Sept. 25.

The award is presented annually to a full-time, regular UAB faculty member who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to teaching throughout his or her career at UAB. To be eligible, faculty members must be past recipients of the President's Award for Excellence in Teaching and have served UAB for 20 or more years.

Ritchey is being recognized for his teaching and scholarship. He teaches courses on social statistics, medical sociology and data management and analysis. He is the author of several books, including his latest, "The Statistical Imagination: Elementary Statistics for the Social Sciences" (2008). He also has published numerous journal articles and book chapters related to homelessness and medical malpractice.

He is a member of the Metropolitan Birmingham Services for the Homeless board of directors and the UAB School of Social and Behavioral Sciences Executive Committee.

Ritchey earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Alabama in 1971 and 1974 respectively. He earned his doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin in 1977. He has been a member of the UAB faculty since 1978.