October 2, 2006

UA Alumni Association Names 2006 Teaching Award Winners

Standing with Bill Barr, center, president of the NAA, are recipients of the 2006 OCTA awards from left, Lucinda Roff, Dr. Rich Megraw (behind Roff), Dr. Brian Gray and Dr. Mark Nelson.

The UA National Alumni Association recently announced the four recipients of its 2006 Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award, the University’s highest honor for excellence in teaching.

This year’s winners are Dr. J. Brian Gray, professor of statistics in the Culverhouse College of Commerce; Dr. Rich Megraw, professor of American studies in the College of Arts and Sciences; Dr. Mark D. Nelson, associate professor of communication studies in the College of Communication and Information Sciences; and, Dr. Lucinda Lee Roff, professor of social work in the School of Social Work.

Established in 1976, OCTA recognizes dedication to the teaching profession and the positive impact outstanding teachers have on their students.

DR. GRAY joined the Culverhouse College of Commerce in 1990 and has taught a variety of courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. His development and integration of cases into the undergraduate, MBA and Executive MBA business statistics courses have provided his students with realistic experiences in making decisions based on data analysis.

Gray also has served several times as a faculty mentor in the C&BA Faculty Scholars Program and the UA Computer-Based Honors Program. He was named the James I. Harrison Family Teaching Excellence Faculty Fellow in 2004. Prior to that, he was the James D. Nabors Instructional Excellence Faculty Fellow. He also has served as interim associate dean for C&BA and director of the applied statistics program.

DR. MEGRAW, who joined the UA faculty in August 1990, has participated in developing and delivering the American Studies curriculum in many capacities.

A Distinguished Teaching Fellow in the College of Arts and Sciences, Megraw teaches across the curriculum and throughout the chronology. He contributes to team-taught freshman surveys as well as courses for upperclassmen. He also has taught both halves of the seniorlevel undergraduate/entry-level graduate course, “The American Experience,” as well as the department’s graduate colloquium.

DR. NELSON joined the College of Communication and Information Sciences in 1991, was appointed to the position of assistant dean for undergraduate studies, and currently serves as associate dean.

Nelson has developed leadership programs for students including the C&IS Academic Honor Council, the only organization of its kind at UA. Students on the council serve as an appellate and deliberative body regarding issues of academic honesty and integrity.

Nelson has been named the Knox Hagood Outstanding Faculty Member in C&IS. He has received the C&IS Board of Visitors Award for Excellence in Teaching and was twice recognized as the John Blackburn Outstanding University Adviser.

DR. ROFF has served on the faculty of the School of Social Work since 1974. She has taught courses in aging, research methods, and community organization and began a productive research program in gerontology.

From 1987-2000 she served as dean of the School of Social Work. She was active nationally in accreditation activities of the Council on Social Work Education and helped secure numerous federal and state training grants and endowed scholarships to provide financial aid for students.

After returning to full-time faculty status in 2000, Roff helped establish the University’s Center for Mental Health and Aging. She directed a threeyear curriculum development grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation to enhance education about older adults in the School of Social Work.

UA Law Dean Named Special Counsel to President

Ken Randall

Ken Randall, dean of the UA School of Law, has been named to the additional role of special counsel to UA President Robert E. Witt.

“I am pleased that Ken Randall has agreed to take on this added responsibility. His strategic thinking ability and wisdom, as demonstrated in his strong leadership of the law school, will benefit all aspects of the University,” Witt said.

Randall has served as dean of the UA law school since 1993. Under his leadership, the UA School of Law has consistently been ranked among the top 20 public law schools in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.

Randall joined the UA faculty in 1985 and served as vice dean from 1989 to 1993. He is the author of an international law book published by Duke University Press, and his articles have appeared in some of the nation’s leading law journals.

Randall holds four law degrees including a doctorate from Columbia University School of Law, a master’s from Columbia, a master’s from Yale University and a J.D. from Hofstra University. He practiced law with the Wall Street firm of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett from 1982 to 1984.

Bridges Named Director of Creative Campus Initiative

Dr. Scott Bridges

Dr. Scott Bridges, professor in the School of Music, has been named director of the Creative Campus initiative.

An internationally acclaimed clarinetist, Bridges has been on the UA faculty since 1978. A former member of the U.S. Army Band and New Jersey and North Carolina Symphony Orchestras, he also has served as a faculty member at the Shenandoah Conservatory and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

UA Creative Campus, an initiative begun in May 2005, is a student-centered project to expand and extend the impact of the cultural arts on and off campus. Maxwell Hall (the old observatory) is the new headquarters for Creative Campus. Bridges is the founder of “Realizing the Dream,” an annual concert tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. that has become a West Alabama community event held at UA. He has commissioned some 14 musical works, most recently Two Cherokee Prayers by University of Georgia composer William Davis for clarinet, soprano, piano and percussion that premiered at the Warner- Westervelt Museum of Art.

He has been involved with the Michael Figures Leadership Experience, the Legislative Agenda Committee, the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra and the New Capstone Woodwind Quintet. He also has served in the UA Faculty Senate, on the Tuscaloosa Library Board, and he is the current elected chairman of the Northport Planning and Zoning Commission.

In March 2004, he was one of 65 national leaders invited to the “Creative Campus” conversation sponsored by the American Assembly at Columbia University. Bridges’ upcoming activities include workshops with Jerry Yoshitomi, an invitation to the Edinburgh Festival Conference on Society and the Arts where he will copresent The Creative Campus: An Exploration of Cultural Development and a plenary invitation to the Vanderbilt Curb Center Symposium on the Creative Campus in November.

Shown at the award presentation ceremony are, from left, Robert Payne, chair, LES Chemicals, Energy and Materials Sector; Calvin Emanuel, BASF new business development manager; and Marianne Woods, associate vice president for research at UA.

UA, BASF Green Chemistry Partnership Wins 2006 ‘Deal of Distinction’

The Licensing Executives Society recently named an agreement between UA and chemical giant BASF one of its “2006 Deals of Distinction” in connection with its annual meeting in New York City.

“The award-winning licensing deal between BASF and The University of Alabama is a great example of how a major chemical company and a university can build new and promising relationships through technology licensing,” said Bob Payne, 2006 chair of the LES Chemicals, Energy and Materials Industry Sector, in a news release issued by LES.

UA’s team which licensed the technology and negotiated the deal with BASF included Dr. Marianne Woods, associate vice president for research; Dr. Dan Daly, director of both technology transfer at UA and the University’s Alabama Institute for Manufacturing Excellence; Michael Spearing, an attorney in UA’s Office of Counsel; and Dr. Robin Rogers, the Robert Ramsay Chair of Chemistry and director of UA’s Center for Green Manufacturing.

The UA/BASF partnership was recognized for “The Ionic Fluids for Cellulose Processing Transaction.” In March, BASF and UA formalized BASF’s exclusive licensing from UA of patents covering the use of ionic liquids to dissolve, regenerate and process cellulose – found in the cell walls of trees and other plants – as well as an arrangement for continuing research by UA for BASF concerning the use of ionic liquids with cellulose.

Ionic liquids are a new class of solvents that typically are not flammable, do not evaporate, and exhibit high thermal stability. By using cellulose in new ways, the researchers have the potential of creating new materials with improved performance and requiring less petroleum to manufacture.

In 2005, a University of Alabama research team, led by Rogers, a faculty member in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, was presented with one of only six Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards. The UA team was the nation’s academic winner and won the award for demonstrating a new way to dissolve and use cellulose in producing environmentally friendly materials.

LES selected for honor one intellectual property deal brokered during the past year from each of its six industry sectors. The UA-BASF deal won within the Energy and Materials Industry Sector. Intellectual property is new knowledge with commercial applications.

The LES Deals of Distinction Awards Program aspires to recognize worthy transactions involving licensing and transfer of intellectual property and promote creative and innovative solutions to business issues involving contracts, according to the LES release. Nominations with the support of a LES member are considered and recommended by the LES Deals of Distinction Awards Committee, with input from the industry, and ratified by the LES Executive Committee.

Established in 1965, the Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. and Canada) Inc. is a professional society comprised of over 6,000 members engaged in the transfer, use, development, manufacture and marketing of intellectual property. The LES membership includes a wide range of professionals, including business executives, lawyers, licensing consultants, engineers, academicians, scientists and government officials.

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