BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) junior Valerie Gribben, 21, of Montgomery has been named to a spot on the USA Today 2007 All-USA College Academic First Team, a prestigious ranking of the top 20 college students in the United States.
Gribben is the only student in Alabama named to the All-USA College Academic First Team this year. She is the fourth UAB student to receive the honor. In 2006, she received an honorable mention in the USA Today All-USA College Academic Team Program. She is the daughter of Irene and Alan Gribben, Ph.D., of Montgomery.
USA Today published a special section on the winners today, Feb. 15. The winners were selected from approximately 600 nominees from colleges and universities nationwide. They will each receive a trophy and a $2,500 cash award.
Forty more runners-up named to the Second and Third Teams were also announced in the newspaper. The All-USA College Academic Team honors full-time undergraduates who not only excel in scholarship, but also extend their intellectual abilities beyond the classroom to benefit society.
Gribben, who is majoring in English and is pursuing a minor in chemistry, has been accepted into the Early Medical School Acceptance Program at UAB. She has a 3.96 G.P.A. She received the Excellence in Organic Chemistry Award from the UAB Department of Chemistry and won First Place, General Category in the Book Discussion Essay Contest for 2006. The essay was based on the university’s selected discussion book, “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.”
Gribben also is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, the Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society, the Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society and the Golden Key Honor Society.
Gribben has recently signed a contract with Junebug Books/NewSouth Books to publish “The Fairytale Trilogy,” scheduled for release in Spring 2008. Gribben’s first novel, “Fairytale” (Junebug Books, 2003), was nominated for the Children’s Prize in Literature by the Southeast Booksellers Association (SEBA).
In 2006, Gribben founded “Healing Words,” a volunteer organization of college students who read aloud to hospital patients and nursing home residents. The program is active at Children’s Hospital, Children’s Harbor, the Balm of Gilead at Cooper Green Mercy Hospital, UAB Hospital and local nursing homes through Ruth and Naomi Senior Outreach.
Gribben has been a member of the UAB Ambassadors. Ambassadors perform official host duties at symposiums, plays, concerts and other UAB events and guide visiting dignitaries on campus tours. She also has been a historian for Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre-Health Honor Society.
Gribben graduated from LAMP Magnet High School in 2004 as salutatorian. While in high school she was student body president, a National Merit Finalist and an AP Scholar.
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