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1970s
January 30, 1970: A groundbreaking ceremony was held for a new three-building campus for the College of General Studies. This ceremony heralded a campus expansion westward from the Medical Center footprint.
January 1970:UAB received acceptance as a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) school.
February 11, 1970: The first meeting was held for the newly elected senate of the College of General Studies. The 39-member College Senate included elected faculty, staff, and students as well as administrators appointed by the dean.
February 19, 1970: Golf, the first intercollegiate sports team at UAB, opened its initial season in a match with Tulane University.
February 1970: Richard W. Jackson appointed first director of security at UAB.
March 26, 1970: Dr. Sidney B. Finn delivered the seventh Distinguished Faculty Lecture, "In Pursuit of the Elusive."
March 1970: Because of the completion of the new exit ramp to the interstate, the City of Birmingham eliminated parallel parking along Eighth Avenue South [University Boulevard].
March 1970: The Greater Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution (GASP) held its first meeting with over 50 attendees. The group was headquartered at UAB in the Baptist Student Union building at 807 South 20th Street [Cullom Apartments]. Dr. Marshall Brewer, a surgery resident, was first president and Henry H. Stebbins, Jr., was executive director of GASP.
April 16-17, 1970: Officials with the US Dept of Health, Education and Welfare toured UAB to review the university’s compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While HEW made a few suggestions for administrative improvements, the university was noted for its progress.
April 1970: South Wing of University Hospital opened.
May 1, 1970: Dr. Samuel B. Barker became first dean of the newly established UAB Graduate School.
May 8, 1970: Several hundred students and faculty members held a protest in front of the College of General Studies Building in sympathy for Kent State.
May 16, 1970: The first social sorority, Alpha Sigma Tau, was formally established at UAB as Beta Zeta chapter.
May 17, 1970: The Ellen Gregg Ingalls Eye Research Institute was dedicated adjoining the Eye Foundation Hospital.
June 7, 1970: In a commencement ceremony held at the Birmingham Municipal Auditorium, UAB awarded its first degrees as an autonomous university. At this first graduation, 478 students received degress from the new university. Dr. Joseph F. Volker, UAB president, received the first honorary degree. Ronald T. Acton received a Ph.D. in Microbiology, becoming the first person to receive a degree from UAB. Ellen Clyde Cook received a degree in Microbiology, the first master's degree awarded. The first bachelor's degree was awarded to Charlene Powell Ackerson from the School of Nursing.
June 7, 1970: Richard Charles Dale and Samuel William Sullivan, Jr., became the first African American graduates of the School of Medicine.
June 14, 1970: The Psychiatric Day Treatment Center was dedicated.
June 14, 1970: Comprehensive Community Mental Health Center established in the Department of Psychiatry.
June 30, 1970: Dr. Florence A. Hixson retired as first dean of the School of Nursing.
July 1, 1970: Dr. Marie L. O'Koren became the second dean of the School of Nursing.
July 1, 1970: Ground was broken for the Diabetes Research and Education Hospital.
July 1, 1970: Dr. Paul H. Spence became librarian of the College of General Studies.
July 13, 1970: Faculty member James F. Hatcher, Jr., and the Alabama Ballet, then an administrative unit of UAB, left for a five-week tour of Europe where the company performed "Repertory 1970" in Italy, France, Switzerland, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
July 1970: Dr. John B. Dunbar became the first vice president for Student and Community Affairs.
July 1970: A groundbreaking cremony was held for the Physical Sciences Building.
August 29, 1970: UAB’s second commencement ceremony was held in the Exhibition Hall at the Birmingham Municipal Auditorium for 173 graduates, including 59 who received advanced degrees.
September 1970: The University of Alabama Board of Trustees held the first board meeting at the newly independent UAB. The Board approved a $91 million system-wide budget for the three universities, over $53.7 million (59%) of the total budget was for UAB. The Board also approved the recommendation of President Joseph F. Volker that UAB’s school colors would be green and gold.
September 1970: The first three African American students matriculated in the School of Dentistry.
September 1970: Total student enrollment for the fall term in all schools for the second year of classes of the new UAB was 6,629, with 2,724 females.
September 1970: Dean Henry B. Peters announced the appointment of the first academic faculty for the one-year old School of Optometry. The inaugural faculty were Drs. Steven S. Bates, Benjamin V. Graham, Thomas S. Greenspon, Kenton E. Kerr, Randall T. Jose, Dolphus B. Mitchell, Clyde W. Oyster, John R. Pierce, Kenneth A. Polse, William R. Rosenblum, and Ellen Shizuko Takahashi.
October 13, 1970: An organizational meeting was held for the Black Affairs Committee of the Student Government Association (SGA). The SGA president had appointed Helen Thedford as chair of the new committee at the start of the fall term.
October 1970: Jean-Paul Sartre’s “No Exit” was performed by UAB students, the first time that students had taken complete responsibility for a theatrical production. Speech and Theatre faculty member Dr. Ward Haarbauer directed the production at the Clark Memorial Theatre; the show opened October 30.
December 1970: The first Ph.D. program, biology, was approved for the College of General Studies.
1970: Dr. J. Durwood Bradley was named full-time chief-of-staff at University Hospital.
1970: A master's degree in Business Administration was initiated in the Division of Business, the first graduate program to begin in the College of General Studies.
1970: The UAB Burn Center was established with Dr. Alan R. Dimick as director.
1970: During the fall term, the Student Government Association (SGA) opened the "Nothin' But," a coffee shop located in the basement of the Engineering Building. The SGA operated the coffee shop until it was closed in the winter of 1972.
1970: The Graduate Student Association was chartered.
1970: The Afro-American Association was approved as an official student organization. Prince C. Chambliss, Jr., was the group's first president.
1970: The UAB student theatre group began in the fall as a means to offer students, faculty, and staff the opportunity to work in performance and technical capacities. It 1972 it would officially be renamed as UAB Commedia.
1970: Dr. John R. Durant established the Cancer Research and Training Center, later designated as the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.
1970: The Regional Technical Institute for Health Occupations opened.
January 15, 1971: Dr. Keith D. Blayney became dean of the School of Community and Allied Health Resources.
January 15, 1971: James E. Moon became administrator of University Hospital.
March 8, 1971: Dr. Walter B. Frommeyer delivered the eighth Distinguished Faculty Lecture, "A Physician's Prayer."
March 11, 1971: The Center for Developmental and Learning Disorders was named in honor of former Alabama governor Chauncey Sparks.
April 14, 1971: A National Honor Society chapter was first organized at the College of General Studies.
May 14, 1971: The 55-member UAB Chorus presented its first public performance in the auditorium of the Engineering Building. Roy Wood was choral director.
May 16, 1971: Eastern Annex of Ullman High School was rededicated as the Bell Building in honor of George C. Bell, the former principal of the Ullman High School.
May 29, 1971: John T. Oliver, Jr., was elected to the University of Alabama Board of Trustees. He was the first trustee elected following the establishment of UAB and the three-campus University of Alabama System.
May 1971: A groundbreaking ceremony was held for a classroom for the humanities (Humanities Building) and a library (Sterne Library).
May 1971:Bracie Watson,Jr., a senior in health physics and a biology major, became the first African American elected president of the UAB student government association.
June 5, 1971: Dr. Bengt E. Gustafson, a noted scientist from Sweden, received the honorary Doctor of Science degree, the second honorary degree awarded by UAB. Dr. Gustafson had a long-standing association with the medical and dental schools at UAB.
June 1971: Six students received their Bachelor of Science degrees in Physiological Optics becoming the first graduates of the School of Optometry.
August 1, 1971: Effective on this date, the College of General Studies was reorganized as University College,an academic entity consisting of four academic schools: Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, and Engineering. Dr. George W. Campbell was named as the interim Vice President for University College.
August 4, 1971: Dr. Frederick W. Conner was named interim dean of the new School of Arts and Sciences; the school was abolished two years later.
August 1971: The former Ullman High School was rededicated as UAB's Ullman Building, a facility comprised by the original 1901 school building and the school's 1955 addition.
August 1971: Geraldine W. Bell became the first African American member of the faculty of the University College Library (later the Mervyn H. Sterne Library), receiving the appointment of instructor and reference bibliographer.
September 1, 1971: Ballet House opened in the renovated Second Presbyterian Church building on 10th Avenue South.
September 1, 1971: Stevan Grebel became first director of UAB's ballet program; his wife, Melanie Mihalic Grebel, became assistant to the director.
September 18, 1971: Dr. Fain A. Guthrie became first dean of the School of Education after serving as interim dean for one month.
September 1971: Dr. Jerry D. Young became first dean of the School of Business.
October 6, 1971: The Rebel and Sophie Zeigler Medical Research Building was dedicated.
October 19, 1971: The Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences was dedicated and named in honor of Alabama's long-time former Senator Lister Hill.
October 19, 1971: Sarah Cole Brown, who had served as chief librarian since 1955, became first director of the new Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences.
November 19, 1971: Kemmons Wilson, founder and chairman of the Board of Holiday Inns, presented the first Carri-Don Lecture in the School of Business. The school's first endowed lectureship had been established earlier in the year with a donation from Don and Carrie Marshall of Birmingham.
December 1971: Dr. Joseph Appleton was named first dean of the School of Engineering after having served as interim dean since August.
1971: UAB's central administrative offices opened in the 7-11 Building.
1971: UAB was accredited as an independent institution of higher education by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
February 1972: Pi Kappa Alpha was chartered as the first social fraternity at UAB. The local Eta Xi chapter had been established as a social club in 1970.
April 8, 1972: Yetta G. Samford, Jr., was elected to the University of Alabama Board of Trustees.
April 17, 1972: Dr. Charles A. McCallum, Jr., delivered the ninth Distinguished Faculty Lecture, "The Challenge of Service."
June 4, 1972: Virginia Baxley, long-time registrar of the medical school, became the first female awarded an honorary degree by UAB. She received the honorary Master of Arts degree.
June 4, 1972: Walter Jackson received a BS in General Engineering, becoming the first African American graduate of the School of Engineering.
June 1972: UAB Regional Spinal Cord Injury Care System was established with Dr. John M. Miller, III, as director.
August 1972: Dr. George W. Campbell was named first vice president for University College after serving as interim vice president since August of 1971.
September 9, 1972: The Psychiatric Day Treatment Center was renamed in honor of benefactor William P. Engel.
September 24, 1972: Dr. Dalton E. McFarland received appointment as UAB’s first “University Professor,” a position designed to cross all school and departmental lines. His faculty appointment was in the School of Business.
September 1972: University Hospital Outpatient Services Clinic was closed.
October 1972: Mercy Hospital opened.
December 1, 1972: A symbolic groundbreaking was held for the School of Optometry Building.
1972: The Extension Library of Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences opened in the Hillman Hospital building.
1972: Offices for the UAB Graduate School moved into a renovated building at 1016 South 15th Street.
1972: The UAB Center for Labor Education and Research was established. Dr. Higdon C. Roberts, Jr., was the center's founding director.
1972: Air Force ROTC first became available to undergraduate students through a cooperative program with Samford University.
1972: By vote of faculty and students, the UAB student theater was officially renamed as UAB Commedia. The first production of the newly renamed program was Martin Duberman’s play “In White America.”
1972: UAB Police Department formally organized. Thomas C. Seals became the first Chief of Police.
1972: Payroll for UAB's 6,000 employees topped $50 million.
February 1973: A new university bookstore was opened after being moved from the basement of Tidwell Hall to a newly acquired facility at the corner of 15th Street and 8th Avenue South.
March 7-8, 1973: The Diabetes Research and Education Building was dedicated in the Medical Center as the nation's first public, university-affiliated diabetes hospital.
March 27, 1973: Dr. J. Garber Galbraith delivered the tenth Distinguished Faculty Lecture, "Perspectives in Neurosurgery."
April 1973: The UAB School of Business became the youngest business school in the nation to be accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business.
May 11, 1973: A tornado struck downtown Birmingham in the area of 6th Avenue North. While UAB was not in the storm's direct path, the university campus was affected by the Friday storm. A tree fell on a portion of the gymnasium at Ullman-Bell and several buildings had roof damage.
May 20, 1973: Dedication ceremonies were held for a new University College campus containing University College Building No. 1, University College Building No. 2, University College Building No. 3, and the university's new library.
June 4, 1973: Seven optometry students received the first O.D. degrees during UAB's commencement exercises; Neil M. Bleakley was the School's first doctoral graduate.
June 7, 1973: The School of Arts and Sciences was disestablished and its three divisions were elevated to three separate academic schools: Humanities, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Social and Behavioral Sciences.
June 7, 1973: Dr. Frederick W. Conner became first dean of the School of Humanities.
June 7, 1973: Dr. Roger W. Hanson became first dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
June 7, 1973: Dr. George E. Passey became first dean of the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
July 1, 1973: Dr. James A. Pittman, Jr., became dean of the School of Medicine.
July 8, 1973: First patients were admitted to the Diabetes Research and Education Hospital.
September 1, 1973: Charles G. Jamerson was appointed to the faculty of the School of Business as an assistant professor in the Center for Labor Education and Research, becoming the first African American faculty member of the business school.
September 15, 1973: The University of Alabama Board of Trustees approved a resolution naming the University College Library as the Mervyn H. Sterne Library after the late Birmingham businessman and philanthropist Mervyn H. Sterne. A dedication ceremony would be held the following year.
October 1973: The Division of Special Studies was established to coordinate non-credit courses, workshops, seminars, and conferences. Dr. Rudolph Davidson was named director.
October 1973: Groundbreaking was held for the Physical Education Facility.
November 1973: The Friday after Thanksgiving first became an official UAB holiday.
December 7-9, 1973: The Diabetes Hospital was formally dedicated at UAB in two-day festivities at the medical center. The hospital, which occupied one floor of the Diabetes Research and Education Building, had opened for patients on the eighth of July.
1973: University of Alabama Hospitals and Clinics was renamed The University of Alabama Hospitals.
1973: The Diabetes Research and Training Center was established with Dr. William J. Reddy as first director. This research center was located within the School of Medicine.
1973: UAB became Birmingham's second largest employer.
1973: The University of Alabama Health Services Foundation was established and incorporated as a not-for-profit, professional corporation.
1973: Dr. David M. Witten became the first president of The University of Alabama Health Services Foundation.
March 1974: Dr. Jerry D. Young became first vice president for Finance.
March 1974: Dr. John B. Dunbar became first vice president for Administration.
April 15, 1974: Dr. Elizabeth C. Crosby delivered the eleventh Distinguished Faculty Lecture, "Our Curious Cortex." She was the first female lecturer.
April 1974: A symbolic groundbreaking was held for the Lurleen B. Wallace Cancer Hospital.
June 9, 1974: Catherine Steinmitz Amos received her O.D. degree becoming the School of Optometry's first female graduate.
June 9, 1974: Jimmie Walker, Jr., and Wilson Wright, Jr., became the first African American graduates of the School of Dentistry.
August 1, 1974: Groundbreaking was held for the Monday Morning Quarterback Tower.
September 24, 1974: The Edward M. Holmes, Jr., Pavilion of the Spain Rehabilitation Center was dedicated.
October 5, 1974: The Silver Anniversary Celebration of the UAB Town and Gown Theatre was the inaugural theatrical event held at the city’s new Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center.
November 1974: Physical Education Facility opened.
December 15, 1974: Patience Hodges Claybon became the first African American female graduate of the School of Medicine.
1974: The Veterans Administration Regional Medical Education Center established as one of only three such centers in the nation. Clyde G. Cox was the center's first director.
1974: Drs. Carl H. Miller and Conrad Merrill received full-time faculty appointments in the School of Nursing, the first male faculty members at the Birmingham nursing school. Dr. Miller was appointed professor of psychiatric nursing; Dr. Merrill was professor and the director of student services.
1974: University of Alabama Medical Center Foundation, a non-profit corporation, was renamed the UAB Medical and Educational Foundation.
1974: Dr. M. Gene Newport became second dean of the School of Business.
February 19, 1975: The University of Alabama Board of Trustees approved plans for UAB to establish a non-commercial, educational FM radio station for the campus.
February 1975: UAB celebrated Black History Week with a series of lectures, dances, and art shows. The weeklong celebration was sponsored by the University College Student Government Association.
April 20, 1975: Mercy Hospital was renamed Cooper Green Hospital.
June 4, 1975: A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the Roberts Annex, an addition to the Clark Memorial Theatre building.
June 9, 1975: Arthur D. Shores, attorney and noted Civil Rights Activist, received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from UAB becoming the first African American to receive an honorary degree from the university.
July 1975: UAB Residence Hall at 1600 9th Avenue South was named in honor of Hugh Denman, long-time director of the Birmingham Housing Authority.
August 1975: School of Nursing received approval for the first nursing doctoral program in the Southeast.
September 12, 1975: The School of Optometry Building was dedicated.
September 17, 1975: Dr. John W. Kirklin delivered the twelfth Distinguished Faculty Lecture, "Training of Horses, Quarterbacks, Pilots, and Surgeons."
October 24, 1975: The Reynolds Historical Library was rededicated within the Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences.
November 22, 1975: The UAB Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership honor society was chartered. Ninety-one members from across the UAB campus were initiated into ODK; Dr. Aaron L. Lamar, Jr., became the first faculty advisor.
November 1975: The University Ambulatory Center was demolished in order to build East Base of University Hospital.
November 1975: Medical Towers Building was acquired.
1975: The Alabama legislature appropriated funds for the purchase of approximately 45 blocks for UAB expansion.
1975: The entering class size of the School of Medicine was increased to 145.
1975:Aura, UAB’s student literary arts review, debuted with an issue published during the fall.
1975: UAB acquired the Medical Center Plaza Building and renamed it University College Building No. 4.
1975: Dr. John W. Kirklin became the second president of The University of Alabama Health Services Foundation.
January 17, 1976: The Medical and Dental Basic Science Building and Dental Clinic was rededicated as the School of Dentistry Building.
March 15, 1976: Dr. Thomas K. Hearn, Jr., became second dean of the School of Humanities.
March 1976: Dr. Joseph F. Volker presented Hugh Denman of the Birmingham Housing Authority $8.8 million for the purchase of 45 blocks for UAB expansion.
March 1976: Ground was broken for University College Building No. 5.
April 1, 1976: Dr. William F. Bridgers was named to develop public health efforts at UAB.
April 5, 1976: “An Evening with Truman Capote” was held in the Bell Auditorium on the UAB campus.
June 1, 1976: The Ambulatory Dialysis Center opened at 516 South 20th Street.
June 6, 1976: Janice G. Jackson became the first African American female to graduate from the School of Dentistry.
June 16, 1976: Dr. Joseph F. Volker was named the first chancellor of the three-campus University of Alabama System.
June 30, 1976: Dr. George W. Campbell, vice president for University College, was named acting president of UAB.
July 1976: Dr. W. Paul Brann became second vice president for Administration.
September 21, 1976: Dr. S. Richardson Hill, Jr., delivered the thirteenth Distinguished Faculty Lecture, "Endocrinology Revisited."
September 24, 1976: The UAB Report, the weekly faculty and staff newspaper, was first published.
December 4, 1976: School of Community and Allied Health Resources was renamed the School of Public and Allied Health, Dr. Keith D. Blayney renamed as dean.
December 5, 1976: WBHM-FM Radio broadcast for the first time as the 200th affiliated station of National Public Radio. Dr. Florence M. Monroe was the station's first general manager.
1976: The first UAB student handbook was issued. Later, in 1982, it would be renamed as Directions.
1976: The Center for Aging was established.
1976: Dr. Rosalie Andrews Scripa received an appointment as assistant professor of Engineering, the first female with a full-time faculty appointment in the engineering school.
1976: The UAB Jazz Ensemble was organized in the fall as a performing group open to UAB students, staff, and faculty.
1976: The entering class size of the School of Medicine was increased to 165.
January 14, 1977: The Radiation Therapy and Tumor Institute was dedicated as Phase I of the Lurleen B. Wallace Memorial Hospital and Tumor Institute.
February 1, 1977: Dr. S. Richardson Hill, Jr., became the second president of UAB.
February 26, 1977: Dr. Edwin G. Waldrop, a member of the Class of 1946, was awarded the first Distinguished Alumnus Award by the University of Alabama School of Medicine Alumni Association.
February 1977: UAB first celebrated Black History Month with a series of campus events, including lectures, film screenings, and dances. Poet Nikki Giovanni was one of the guest lecturers. The month-long celebration was co-sponsored by the University College Student Government Association and the Graduate Student Association.
May 13, 1977: The Alabama Supreme Court held a session on the UAB campus for the first time. Three cases were heard by Chief Justice C. C. Torbert, Jr., and the other eight members of Alabama’s highest court.
May 26, 1977: R. Lee Walthall became first vice president for Institutional Advancement and Legal Affairs.
May 27, 1977: The UAB Mini Park was dedicated.
May 1977: Dr. J. Dudley Pewitt became third vice president for Administration.
June 14, 1977: Dr. S. Richardson Hill, Jr., announced that UCLA Coach Gene Bartow would become UAB's new Athletic Director and head coach of the Men's Basketball team.
July 18, 1977: The Monday Morning Quarterback Tower was dedicated as Phase I of the Alabama Heart Hospital.
August 1977: Fran Sharp Merrell became the first head coach of the new Women's Basketball team.
September 1, 1977: Dr. Charles A. McCallum, Jr., became vice president for Health Affairs.
September 26, 1977: Dr. Thomas N. James delivered the fourteenth Distinguished Faculty Lecture, "Dobermans, Dalmatians, and Deaf Children."
October 10, 1977: Engineering Building was renamed Cudworth Hall in honor of James R. Cudworth.
October 1977: Basic Health Sciences Building was renamed Volker Hall in honor of UAB's first president.
November 9, 1977: UAB joined the Sun Belt Conference.
1977: Sports Medicine Institute established as an official UAB center. Dr. Kurt M. W. Niemann was the first director.
1977:Drs. Leo M. Hall and James E. Myrick obtained the first license from UAB for manufacture and sale of an invention produced at the university. The reagent they developed was licensed to Calbiochem for US and international sales.
1977: Dr. Robert Glaze became first vice president for Research and Graduate Studies.
1977: The Multipurpose Arthritis Center, later renamed the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases Center, was created.
1977: Urological Rehabilitation and Research Center established at UAB with Dr. L. Keith Lloyd as director.
1977: World's first effective treatment for a viral disease, the deadly herpes simplex encephalitis, occurred at University Hospital.
January 1, 1978: Dr. Leonard H. Robinson became third dean of the School of Dentistry.
January 13, 1978: In a campus-wide election, students, faculty, and staff voted to name all intercollegiate athletic teams the UAB Blazers.
January 20, 1978: UAB held a ceremony honoring the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with a keynote address by Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker. Walker had served as chief-of-staff for King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The event was held in the auditorium of the Engineering Building and was sponsored by the UAB group Students for Greater Awareness. The event was funded by the student government and graduate student associations.
January 1978: Gladys McQueen, supervisor of keypunch services in the Central Computing Facility, was named UAB’s first “Employee of the Month.” At the time, McQueen had 24 years of service.
January 1978: The UAB Symphony Orchestra established as the only college/community orchestra in the Birmingham metropolitan area. The faculty advisor was Dr. Sherrill Martin, department of Performing Arts. The orchestra's first performance was in April.
January 1978: Patricia P. Farmer was named as first curator of Art Collections at UAB and as curator of the UAB Visual Arts Gallery.
February 1, 1978: The Russell Ambulatory Center was dedicated.
March 6, 1978: University College Building No. 5 opened.
April 28, 1978: University College Building No. 5 was renamed in honor of Dr. George W. Campbell, vice president for University College.
April 1978: Bill Herron hired as the first head coach of Men's Tennis, a team scheduled to begin competition during the 1979 calendar year.
May 1978: Dr. John D. Jones became first vice president for Student Affairs.
May 1978: Alabama native Harry "the Hat" Walker became the first head coach of the new Men's Baseball team. Games for the UAB Blazers were played at Birmingham's historic Rickwood Field since there were no on-campus facilities available.
June 4, 1978: Terrence N. Ingraham received his O.D. degree becoming the first African American graduate of the School of Optometry.
July 24, 1978: Upon the retirement of Sarah Cole Brown, Richard B. Fredericksen became second director of the Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences.
September 1, 1978: The UAB Police Department assumed “campus-wide responsibility for the enforcement of University parking rules and regulations.”
September 15, 1978: Dr. James H. Woodward, Jr., became second dean of the School of Engineering.
September 22, 1978: Dr. Marie L. O'Koren delivered the fifteenth Distinguished Faculty Lecture, "Nursing: Past Realities and Future Imperatives."
October 1, 1978: Dr. Thomas K. Hearn became second vice president for University College.
October 27, 1978: The Center for Advanced Medical Studies (CAMS) was approved by The University of Alabama Board of Trustees as an official UAB Center. Later, the center was renamed in honor of Dr. James A. Pittman, Jr.
October 1978: Dr. Joel P. Hearn, a post-graduate student in endodontics, composed the new UAB Fight Song. A committee comprised of students, faculty, and staff selected Dr. Hearn's song during a campus-wide competition.
November 24, 1978: Before a crowd of over 14,800 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center, the UAB men's basketball team competed in its first game, losing to Nebraska by a score of 55 to 64.
November 29, 1978: The Women's Basketball team played its first game at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center, losing to North Alabama by a score of 77 to 82.
November 29, 1978: The School of Public and Allied Health was renamed the School of Community and Allied Health, Dr. Keith D. Blayney remained as dean.
December 1, 1978: Drs. Kenneth J. Roozen and Blaine A. Brownell became associate deans and co-directors of the UAB Graduate School.
1978: UAB Ambassadors corps formed with 10 students and two alternates in order to provide student hosts at official university functions. Dr. Kathleen Faircloth was the faculty advisor for the new student group.
1978: Blazer cheerleading squad of 10 formed in the spring with John Slivka and Susan Rheuby as Head Cheerleaders. Deborath Sutherland was the first director of the cheer and dance teams.
1978: Ayda G. Nambayan received a full-time faculty appointment as assistant professor of nursing, the first international appointed to the nursing school faculty. Nambayan was from the Philippines.
1978: The Medical Education Building opened.
1978: Howard G. Hawk became the first UAB student named as a Truman Scholar.
1978: Susan Cook became the first head coach of the new Women's Volleyball team.
1978: The Nephrology Research and Training Center was established at UAB with Dr. Robert G. Luke as first director.
1978: Dr. Aaron L. Lamar, Jr., was named assistant vice president and dean of Student Affairs, becoming the first African American appointed to a senior administrative position at UAB.
1978: A pink dragon served as the first official mascot for the UAB Blazers.
1978: UAB Pain Treatment Center was formally established as an official center although the program had originated in the late 1960s. Dr. H. Ronald Vinik was the center's first director.
1978: Peter N. Derzis, Jr., became UAB's first Sports Information director.
1978: Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences contained 188,000 volumes and 2,877 journal subscriptions.
1978: The Alabama Regional Organ and Tissue Center established.
January 23, 1979: In a reception held in the Rust Research Center, Gladys McQueen was honored as UAB’s first “Employee of the Year.” She had been selected as the university’s first “Employee of the Month” the previous January.
January 25-27, 1979: During basketball season, UAB celebrated its first Homecoming festivities.
January 27, 1979: UAB gained full membership as an NCAA Division I athletics program.
January 1979: The University of Alabama System Medical Education Program (UASMEP) was reaccredited by the national Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME).
April 1979: The Division of Special Studies renamed UAB Special Studies.
June 3, 1979: E. Karen King became the first African American female graduate of the School of Optometry.
June 3, 1979: Kathleen G. Andreoli became the first graduate of the School of Nursing’s DSN program, which had been instituted in 1975. Andreoli completed degree requirements in March and was awarded her doctoral degree at the annual commencement ceremony.
June 17, 1979: The Spain Heart Bed Tower, Margaret Cameron Spain Auditorium, Wallace Cancer Bed Tower, and East Base were dedicated as part of the "New U" celebrations.
June 24, 1979: Lilly Henderson, a UAB senior in Counseling and Guidance (Education), was named Miss Wheelchair Alabama.
June 1979: The original Jefferson Hospital building was renamed Jefferson Tower.
July 1979: The former Lawrence Reynolds Library building was demolished in order to construct the Center for Advanced Medical Studies.
September 12, 1979: Vision Science Research Center was dedicated as the only NEI funded center located in an optometry school. Dr. Terry L. Hickey was the center's first director. In 1996 the center received designation as a university-wide research center.
October 12, 1979: UAB’s new heliport was dedicated on the western edge of campus.
October 19, 1979: Dr. J. Claude Bennett delivered the sixteenth Distinguished Faculty Lecture, "The Bench and the Bedside."
October 26, 1979: The John J. Sparkman Center for International Public Health Education was approved as an official center by The University of Alabama Board of Trustees. Dr. William F. Bridgers was the center's first director. In 2004 the center was renamed as the Sparkman Center for Global Health.
October 26, 1979: Martha Simms Rambo and Thomas E. Rast were elected to the University of Alabama Board of Trustees. Rambo was the first women elected to the governing board of the three campus University of Alabama System.
November 5, 1979: T. Massey Bedsole was elected to the University of Alabama Board of Trustees.
1979: Tim Hamer became the first head coach of the new Men's Soccer team.
1979: Center for Nursing Research was established.
1979: Dr. Carl E. Dukes completed an internal medicine residency program and service as the first African American selected as UAB's chief medical resident.
1979: Dr. James Rachels was named third dean of the School of Humanities after serving as interim since 1978.
1979: Jimmy Ballard became the first head coach of the new Men's Golf team.
1979: The Phoenix, a UAB yearbook chiefly focusing on University College, was first published. Steve Nixon, a junior management major, was editor of the first yearbook.
1979: Hugh Thomson became the inaugural head coach of the Women's Tennis team and the second head coach of the Men's Tennis team.
1979: The Muscular Dystrophy and Myasthenia Gravis Center established.
1979: President S. Richardson Hill, Jr., established the UAB President’s Council. Composed by community business and civic leaders, the council was charged with advising the president on matters related to the advancement of the university.
1979: UAB National Alumni Society was chartered.
1979: The Blue Cross/Blue Shield Building on South 20th Street was acquired and reopened as the Community Health Services Building.
1979: Active extramural grants and contracts at UAB totaled $47,471,028.
1979-1980: Beauregard T. Roosterbecame the official mascot for the UAB Blazers, the university's second mascot.