Nearly 1,400 students will graduate from the University of Alabama at Birmingham this summer, and an estimated 700 are expected to walk in its new summer commencement ceremony set for 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 13, at Bartow Arena.
The UAB Graduate School’s hooding ceremony is set for noon at UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center. The ceremony is for students earning doctorates in education, philosophy, public health, nursing practice and science. For summer 2016, the university’s highest degrees will be conferred on 75 students from 13 states and 10 countries in 27 disciplines; approximately 40 will participate in the ceremony. The keynote speaker will be Endowed University Professor of Polar and Marine Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, James B. McClintock, Ph.D. McClintock will also bear the academic mace for the ceremony.
A to-do list for graduates, as well as information for guests, is available on the commencement website. Tickets are not required; but seating is first come, first served. Bartow Arena doors will open at 8:30 a.m. University officials recommend guests leave nonessential bags at home or in the car. The ceremonies will be recorded and added online for viewing at www.uab.edu/commencement about a week after the ceremonies.
The mace carrier for the ceremony will be Charles D. Amsler, Ph.D., a phycologist (algal biologist) and marine chemical ecologist. Professor in UAB’s Department of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, Amsler has been on the faculty at UAB since 1994. He grew up along the south shore of Lake Erie with annual trips to the Atlantic coast and developed a lifelong love of aquatic environments in general and the marine environment in particular. Amsler is the 2016 winner of the Caroline P. and Charles W. Ireland Prize for Scholarly Distinction as a result of the quality of his scholarship and impact on his field.
| A to-do list for graduates, as well as information for guests, is available on the commencement website. Tickets are not required; but seating is first come, first served. Bartow Arena doors will open at 8:30 a.m. The ceremonies will be recorded and added online for viewing at www.uab.edu/commencement about a week after the ceremonies. |
The undergraduate speaker for the ceremony is Ibawolatei “Latei” Iyegha. She will graduate from the Collat School of Business with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. Iyegha received many scholarships and awards, including the Education Foundation Scholarship awarded by the Alabama Society of CPAs, the Protective Life/NABA Scholarship and the Alabama Power Company Scholarship both awarded by the National Association of Black Accountants, and the Golden Excellence Scholarship awarded by UAB. She is president of the UAB Chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants, is a Gold Member of the Delta Chi Chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, and is a member of the UAB Chapter of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society.
An accounting intern for Arlington Family Offices in Birmingham and a student assistant for the dean’s office in the Collat School of Business, she previously was a supplemental instructor of quantitative methods for the University Academic Success Center. Recently, she completed an audit internship at Deloitte & Touche, LLP, one of the Big Four public accounting firms. Iyegha has been an active volunteer in community organizations such as the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program with United Way, and NABA where she was certified by the IRS to prepare tax returns for qualifying families each tax season. She volunteered as a tutor for the UAB Collat Tutor Lab, where she helped peers comprehend core business class material including principles of accounting, economics and quantitative methods. After graduation, she will continue her education at UAB this fall in the Collat School of Business’ Master of Accounting program and has plans to pursue the certified public accountant designation. She has also accepted a full-time position as an audit assistant with Deloitte & Touche in the Birmingham office.
Deborah F. Grimes, R.N., J.D., CHC, CPHQ, will be the graduate commencement speaker. She will graduate from the School of Health Professions with a master’s degree in health care quality and safety. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from UAB and her Juris Doctor degree from the Birmingham School of Law. She also received a graduate certificate in quality and patient safety from UAB in 2013 while also being previously certified in health care compliance and healthcare quality.
Grimes was a registered nurse for 11 years before becoming risk manager for UAB Medicine’s Office of Risk Management. Since 2004, she has served as chief compliance officer and associate vice president of regulatory affairs for UAB Hospital. There she led efforts resulting in UAB Hospital’s achieving the award for outperforming 75 other University Health System Consortium institutions in patient care improvements related to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services initiatives, created a patient safety hospital review process, led joint commission site visits, and led the process which resulted in the organization’s winning the Alabama Quality Award. She is responsible for monitoring compliance with state and federal law and corporate policies, overseeing the graduate medical education administrative office, and advising and directing staff on how to respond to regulatory audits and record requests.