Notable Alumni – Page 2 – College of Arts & Sciences

Harper Lee

May 28, 2020

Honorary Doctorate, ’91 Nellie Harper Lee, better known by her pen name Harper Lee, was an American novelist widely known for To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960. Immediately successful, it won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature. Though Lee had only published this single book, in 2007 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contribution to literature. She was also known for assisting her close friend Truman Capote in […]

Betsy Plank

May 28, 2020

History, ’44 Betsy Plank was known as a public relations pioneer, a champion of PR education and the First Lady of public relations. A 1944 graduate of the University of Alabama, Plank attained national and international stature during a distinguished career in corporate and agency public relations. She achieved multiple firsts for women, winning many top awards in the field. The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Foundation established its first ever scholarship endowment fund in her name. Since then, […]

Joe Scarborough

May 28, 2020

History, ’85 Joe Scarborough is an American cable news and talk radio host, lawyer, author and former politician. He is the co-host of Morning Joe on MSNBC, and previously hosted Scarborough Country on the same channel. Scarborough served in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001 as a Representative from the 1st district of Florida. He was named by Time magazine one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World” in 2011. He holds a bachelor’s […]

Richard and Annette Shelby

May 28, 2020

History, ’57 (Richard) and Speech Communication, ’60 (Annette) The University of Alabama’s interdisciplinary science and engineering complex, Shelby Hall, is named after U.S. Senator Richard Shelby and his wife, Dr. Annette N. Shelby. The $58.2 million building, which was dedicated in 2004, is one of the largest academic buildings on the UA campus. Richard Shelby, Alabama’s senior United States senator, is a graduate of The University of Alabama’s undergraduate and law programs. He was elected to the Senate in 1986 […]

Kathryn Stockett

May 28, 2020

English, ’91 Kathryn Stockett is best known for her 2009 debut novel, The Help, which spent more than 100 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. She worked in magazine publishing in New York before publishing her first novel, which took her five years to complete. The book was rejected by 60 literary agents before its successful launch, and is now published in 42 languages. She graduated from The University of Alabama with a degree in English and […]

Ann Waldron

May 28, 2020

Unknown Major, ’45 Ann Wood Waldron was an author who initially focused on writing for children and young adults, but turned her work to biographies of authors from the South, and eventually shifted to writing murder mysteries. She earned a degree in journalism from UA and was editor of The Crimson White. Waldron met her Pulitzer Prize-winner husband, Martin Waldron, while working for The Atlanta Constitution. Ann Waldron wrote biographies on Hodding Carter (Hodding Carter: The Reconstruction of a Racist) […]

E.O. Wilson

May 28, 2020

Biology, ’49 and M.S., ’50 Edward Osborne Wilson is an American biologist, researcher (sociobiology, biodiversity, island biogeography), theorist, naturalist and author. His biological specialty is myrmecology, or the study of ants, on which he is considered to be the world’s leading expert. Wilson is known for his scientific career, his role as “the father of sociobiology” and “the father of biodiversity,” his environmental advocacy, and his secular-humanist and deist ideas pertaining to religious and ethical matters. Among his greatest contributions […]

Norbert Leo Butz

May 28, 2020

Theatre, ’93 This UA graduate is a two-time winner of the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and one of only nine to win the award twice as lead actor. He made his Broadway debut in 1996 in Rent, and went on to star in Thou Shalt Not (for which he won a 2002 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical), Wicked and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (for which he received the 2005 Tony Award for Best […]