Appointments
Dr. Jeannine Lawrence has been appointed senior associate dean of the College of Human Environmental Sciences. Her responsibilities include serving on the UA Council of Associate Deans for Research. Lawrence has served CHES as assistant dean and, most recently, interim associate dean for research. She also chaired the department of human nutrition and hospitality management for the past five years. Her research focuses on clinical nutrition assessment and interventions with nutritionally at-risk populations, and interprofessional education in clinical health care.
Dr. Melissa Wilmarth has been appointed assistant dean for student affairs in the College of Human Environmental Sciences after serving in that capacity as interim assistant dean. She is an associate professor in the department of consumer sciences teaching classes in consumer decision making, public policy and consumer protection. Her research interests focus in the area of family and consumer economics.
Honors and Awards
The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute recognized Dr. Sriram Aaleti, associate professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering, with the Educator of the Year Award at its annual PCI Committee Days and Technical Conference, featuring the National Bridge Conference Awards Luncheon in Rosemont, Illinois. His teaching experience includes undergraduate and graduate courses in structural engineering related to reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete. The award is intended to recognize early-career contributions to the PCI education mission.
Dr. Pamela Payne-Foster, professor of community medicine and population health for the College of Community Health Sciences, was selected as a Stillman College Alabama Female Firsts honoree. She was recognized for her accomplishments as the first black faculty in the Institute for Rural Health Research and the first black faculty in the department to receive full professor promotion status. She is the deputy director for community outreach and leads the medical student’s education in community rural medicine clerkship and community rural medicine ambulatory acting internship. Payne-Foster was also recognized for her leadership in racial/ethnic health disparities and community-based participatory research including her work with the Tuscaloosa County Lupus Support Group.
Performances and Exhibits
Dr. Jeremy Crawford, assistant professor of tuba and euphonium and brass area coordinator in the School of Music, has released his second solo album, “Hummingbird.” The album, available on Spotify, features works for solo tuba and tape/digital playback.
Jonathan Cumberland, assistant professor in the department of art and art history, had a poster selected for the juried international PlakatFest 2019 exhibition in Chorzów, Poland.
Allison Grant, assistant professor in the department of art and art history, had two photographs accepted to the juried Peer Show, Cleveland Print Room, Cleveland, Ohio, and one photograph, “Shelter Shadow,” was named Best in Show. Grant’s photograph “Holding Lorelei” was juried into the exhibition CorpoRealities at PH21 Contemporary Photography Gallery, Budapest, Hungary. Her project, “Conversations Over Beer,” was presented as a durational community art project at the Terrain Biennial Block Party, curated by Mark Jeffery, Chicago, Illinois. Grant’s photograph, “Holding Isa,” received an honorable mention in the juried exhibition Photography at the Emerald: 4th Annual Autumn Exhibition at Emerald Art Center, Springfield, Oregon.
A painting by Jason Guynes, professor and chair of the department of art and art history, “Company of Myself,” was featured in the juried volume International Painting Annual 8, published by Manifest Press, summer 2019.
Celestia Morgan, instructor in the department of art and art history, has a solo exhibition, “Celestia Morgan: REDLINE,” at the Birmingham Museum of Art through Feb. 16, 2020.
Presentations and Publications
Dr. Caroline Boxmeyer, professor of psychiatry and behavioral medicine in the College of Community Health Sciences, was selected to provide a presentation at The University of Alabama System’s Behavioral Health Research Symposium at the UAB Hill Center in Birmingham.
Dr. Pamela Payne-Foster, professor of community medicine and population health for the College of Community Health Sciences, co-authored “Reducing the African American HIV Disease Burden in the Deep South: Addressing the role of Faith and Spirituality,” 23 (Suppl. 3) AIDS and Behavior 319-330 (2019).
Submitting Accolades
Faculty and staff are invited to share the following: awards from state, national or international organizations; elections to office in state, national or international organizations; performances and exhibits; publications of books, book chapters or articles in peer-reviewed journals; keynote speeches or addresses at conferences; new positions as assistant or associate deans, department heads or department chairs. Submit accolades to the college or division’s communications specialist or use the online form. Direct questions to cathy.butler@ua.edu.