January 31, 2011

Michael Brooks. Download image.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - University of Alabama at Birmingham President Carol Z. Garrison recently honored six outstanding UAB community leaders during the 2011 President's Awards for Diversity. Awards for contributions to inclusion on campus and beyond were given in five categories:

Undergraduate student - Erica Whitby

Whitby, advisor for the Black Student Awareness Committee, creates campus buzz with her innovation in social media and design to highlight programming that introduces black culture to the UAB community. 

Professional student - Kirk Williams, Ph.D.

Williams, a post-doctoral scholar in the Department of Biostatistics, works tirelessly to recruit and retain fellow diverse scholars.

Norma May Isakow. Download image.

Faculty - Lee Ascherman, M.D.

Ascherman, director of the UAB Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, makes a concerted effort to recruit and retain faculty and staff who capture the diversity and inclusiveness of the UAB community.

Faculty - Michael Brooks, Ph.D.

Brooks, associate professor of human studies, authored 10 publications on diversity, developed a freshman course on the topic and directs a program to retain black male students on UAB's campus. 

Staff - Jeffrey Engler, Ph.D.

Engler, professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics, assists low-income, first-generation college students completing doctoral programs in science and engineering.

Staff - Norma-May Isakow

Isakow, founding director of the UAB Office for Service Learning, works to advance students' understanding of diversity within their communities and helps them commit to civic responsibility and seeking justice. 

About UAB

Known for its innovative and interdisciplinary approach to education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is an internationally renowned research university and academic medical center and the state of Alabama's largest employer. For more information, please visit www.uab.edu.