Category: News

Articles about news in the College, from student and faculty accomplishments to research advances, new academic programs, and the impact of giving.


Invisible “Dark Matter”

From the September 2014 edition of Desktop News | Three University of Alabama physicists are among dozens of researchers planning and developing a new international search for dark matter – an invisible material that scientists believe makes up roughly 27 percent of the universe’s mass. Drs. Andreas Piepke, Jerry Busenitz and Ion Stancu, all professors in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, are University representatives on the project, which is being managed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. UA scientists […]

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Award-Winning Geologist Recognized by State Legislature

From the September 2014 edition of Desktop News | Dr. Samantha Hansen, assistant professor in the department of geological sciences, was recently honored by a resolution in the Alabama House of Representatives that recognized her accomplishments in winning a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the White House earlier this year. Hansen received the PECASE award from President Obama during a reception at the White House in April. “Commendations and congratulations are herein conveyed to Dr. Samantha Hansen […]

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Former CIA Officer Heads New UA Initiative

From the September 2014 edition of Desktop News | Reginald D. Hyde, a UA alumnus and former deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security in the U.S. Department of Defense, has been named executive director of UA’s new Cyber Institute, a collaborative effort between UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, College of Engineering, Culverhouse College of Commerce, and other groups. Hyde, who retired from government last year, will head the new institute, which will facilitate interdisciplinary research and educational […]

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Student Named Scholar Athlete of the Year

From the September 2014 edition of Desktop News | Junior Hayden Reed, a redshirt sophomore on UA’s track and field team, was named the men’s outdoor field events NCAA Division I Scholar Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. He is majoring in biology with a 3.52 grade point average (GPA) and is the first man from Alabama to win the award since its inception in 2007. The Orange, Texas, native claimed the […]

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Extracting Uranium With Shrimp

From the September 2014 edition of Desktop News | The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a University of Alabama start-up company approximately $1.5 million to help extract uranium from the ocean using an innovative magnet – a compound found in shrimp. Uranium, the fuel for nuclear power, naturally occurs in seawater and in the Earth’s crust. Scientists have sought for decades a more economical and efficient way to remove it from the ocean. Using chitin, a compound found in shrimp […]

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Why Football Matters: Author to Present Lecture at UA

Does football matter? It’s a question author and acclaimed essayist Dr. Mark Edmundson will try to answer as he discusses his newest book, “Why Football Matters: My Education in the Game,” in a lecture Friday, Sept. 19 at 3 p.m. on The University of Alabama campus. The lecture will be held in the Ferguson Center Theater and is free and open to the public. The event will be followed by a book signing and reception. Edmundson was recently featured on […]

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Rising Tide Scholarship

Student-Led Campaign Seeks to Establish Scholarship for Students in Need What would you do if you could be Dean of The University of Alabama’s College of Arts and Sciences for a day? Marcita Cole, one of more than 8,000 students who were asked the question via social media earlier this year, said she would provide critical financial assistance to successful students in need. The College’s student Ambassadors were struck by her response and are now seeking to make her vision […]

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From Vancouver to Hawaii to Australia

From the August 2014 Desktop News | How does it feel to perform before thousands of people every night and wake up in a new country every morning? Jess Berzack has one word for it: incredible. Berzack, a 2014 musical theatre graduate, recently returned from a nine-month contract as a lead singer aboard Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas. The cruise ship sailed from Vancouver to Hawaii before spending the majority of its time in and around Sydney, Australia. Berzack […]

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Student Attends National Symposium

From the August 2014 Desktop News | Ashley Jolly, a University of Alabama doctoral student studying organic chemistry, was one of approximately 75 graduate students who presented their research at a national research symposium last month. The American Chemical Society Division of Organic Chemistry hosts the Graduate Research Symposium annually to provide organic chemistry graduate students the opportunity to interact with leaders in academia, industry, funding agencies and publishing at a single venue. The students also have opportunities to attend […]

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Expeditions in Ecuador

From the August 2014 Desktop News | Some of the world’s most prominent botanists have named a tree species found in western Ecuador the Gustavia johnclarkii after a University of Alabama professor. The most interesting part? This is the sixth species to be named in his honor. Dr. John L. Clark, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and curator and director of the University of Alabama Herbarium, has made frequent trips to Ecuador since he served as […]

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