Hurst-Wajszczuk named first associate dean of UAB Honors College

Kristine Hurst-Wajszczuk, DMA, associate dean for UAB Honors College After a universitywide search, Shannon L. Blanton, Ph.D., dean of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Honors College, announces Kristine Hurst-Wajszczuk, DMA, as the first associate dean of the college, effective Aug. 12.

Hurst-Wajszczuk currently serves as an associate professor of voice, as well as the director of Opera in UAB’s Department of Music in the College of Arts and Sciences. In her new role, she will help lead the college’s teaching and engagement mission and facilitate the recruitment and academic success of a diverse student body, while remaining actively engaged in the Department of Music.

“I am delighted that Dr. Hurst-Wajszczuk is joining our leadership team as the first associate dean for the UAB Honors College,” Blanton said. “Her interdisciplinary research, as well as her compassion, thoughtfulness and organizational skills, will be a true asset for the Honors College as we continue to support a rapidly growing number of outstanding students in their journey to achieve their academic and leadership goals.” 

As a clinician throughout the United States and Europe, Hurst-Wajszczuk has been featured at national and international conferences and presents regularly at universities and colleges. She teaches applied voice to music majors, minors and musical theater majors, and has served as stage director and musical director for UAB Opera, which has won three awards through the National Opera Association under her direction.

“Teaching in the Honors College, in the University Honors Program and as an Honors Faculty Fellow has been deeply gratifying and has informed my work in the Department of Music,” Hurst-Wajszczuk said. “I’m looking forward to working with Dean Blanton and my colleagues in the Honors College, and I am excited to join such a creative team. Both my department chair Patrick Evans, D.M., and Honors colleagues have been very supportive, and for that I am very grateful.”

Hurst-Wajszczuk received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in voice performance and pedagogy from Westminster Choir College of Rider University in 1991 and 1994, respectively. She completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in voice performance and pedagogy at the University of Colorado at Boulder.