University officials have selected Heritage Hall as the name for the new 95,000-square-foot academic building that will open for classes with the spring semester.

Located on the northwest corner of the Campus Green on University Boulevard at 14th Street, Heritage Hall is the first academic building to be built on that part of campus in approximately 30 years. It will house the School of Social & Behavioral Sciences programs, plus labs for mathematics and communication studies and faculty offices.

The new name was chosen with due respect to the former SBS home, the Ullman Building, a historic structure that housed one of Birmingham’s first high schools for African-Americans before it was purchased by UAB in the early 1970s.

“UAB selected the name to reflect the connection to our past and to the contribution of the Ullman Building and Samuel Ullman for whom it was named,” said Jean Ann Linney, Ph.D., dean of the School of Social & Behavioral Sciences.

The Ullman School opened in 1901 as an elementary school, named for social and education reformer Samuel Ullman, author of the poem “Youth.” In 1937, the facility was rededicated as Ullman High School, serving the city’s south side and Titusville. UAB began using it for classes in 1970 and purchased it within the next two years, according to UAB Archivist Tim Pennycuff.

Future positioning
The new Heritage Hall is one of the anchor buildings for the Campus Green that already includes the Campus Recreation Center, plus new dining and dormitory facilities. The school’s physical relocation there is significant for SBS, which always has been located on the periphery of the academic campus, said UAB President Carol Z. Garrison, Ph.D.

“The transition to the new building with a new dean promotes a new vision for our future and possibilities for collaborations with other parts of campus,” Garrison said.

Among other things, Heritage Hall will have rooms for students to congregate and encourage foot traffic from students traveling through this campus center that Ullman did not. “Hopefully, this will help raise the visibility of SBS programs and their importance,” Linney said.

Linney said faculty will move into the new offices and classrooms at the end of the fall semester, after grading has been completed in late December. Training on the use of the new smart rooms should begin the first week of January, she said, and the faculty is being encouraged to focus on incorporating these new technologies into their teaching.

The first classes should begin Jan. 7, 2008.