October 23, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) National Alumni Society (NAS) recently presented five awards to alumni, faculty members and members of the local community for their professional achievement and philanthropy. The awards were presented at a special ceremony last month.

UAB Professor Ray L. Watts, M.D., received the Distinguished Alumni Award. The award is given each year to a faculty member for outstanding professional and community accomplishments. Watts earned his degree in biomedical and electrical engineering from UAB in 1976. Today he is a renowned expert in Parkinson’s disease and movement disorders and he is chairman of the UAB Department of Neurology.

Retired UAB Department of Theatre Professor Ward Haarbauer, Ph.D., received the NAS Honorary Alumnus Award for exceptional contributions to UAB and its programs. Haarbauer began his career at UAB in 1964 as technical director and production stage manager for Town and Gown Theatre. While at UAB, he held a number of leadership roles on campus. He retired in July as associate dean of the UAB School of Arts & Humanities.

Sam Miller won the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, which is given to UAB alumni who have graduated from the university within the last 10 years. Miller earned an MBA from the UAB School of Business in 2003. He is currently the associate athletics director for external affairs at UAB.

The Ellen Greg Ingalls/UAB National Alumni Society Award for Lifetime Achievement in Teaching was presented to UAB engineering Professor Rosalia Scripa, Ph.D. The award is presented each year to a faculty member who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to teaching throughout their career at UAB.

Scripa, a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, was honored for 30 years of teaching at UAB. She has published numerous journal articles and book chapters and won several awards for teaching, including the Outstanding Young Faculty Member Award for the Southeast from Dow Chemical USA in 1979, the Distinguished Engineering Educator Award presented by the National Society of Women Engineers in 1986 and the World Congress of Arts, Sciences and Communications Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of a lifetime of contributions to science and education in 2005.

The NAS Honorary Life Member Award was presented to Don and Marsha Hire of Vestavia Hills. The award recognizes individuals whose contributions have benefited the UAB community. The Hires were honored for their many contributions to the NAS, the UAB schools of Medicine and Optometry, the Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB and their continued support of UAB athletics.