University of Alabama in Huntsville

The University of Alabama in Huntsville

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Type	Public University Space grant
Established	1961
Endowment	$70 million
President	Robert A. Altenkirch
Provost	Christine Curtis
Academic staff	479
Students	7,866
Undergraduates	6,013
Postgraduates	1,853
Location	Huntsville , Alabama , United States
Campus	Urban 350 acres (1.4 km2)
Colors	Royal Blue and White
Nickname	Chargers
Affiliations	University of Alabama System
Mascot	Charger Blue
Website	www.uah.edu

The University of Alabama in Huntsville (also known as UAHuntsville or UAH) is a state-supported, public, coeducational research university, located in Huntsville, Alabama, United States, is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master's and doctoral degrees, and is organized in eight colleges: business administration, education, engineering, honors college, liberal arts, nursing, science and graduate studies.

UAH is one of three members of the University of Alabama System, which includes the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Alabama located in Tuscaloosa. All three institutions operate independently, with only the president of each university reporting to the Board of Trustees of the system. The university enrollment is approximately 7,500.

History

The Shelby Center for Science and Technology (in October 2008) which hosts several departments of the College of Science.

The genesis for a publicly funded institution of higher education in Huntsville was many years in the making. Beginning in January 1950 as an extension of the University of Alabama and known as the University of Alabama Huntsville Center, classes were first taught at West Huntsville High School.

However, the university was formally founded in 1961, upon the recommendations of Wernher von Braun, a German rocket scientist brought to the United States under Operation Paperclip after working for the Nazi regime. Even though Huntsville had been home to Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College since 1875, this was still the era of segregation; the Germans insisted that engineering should be taught near their base at the Redstone Arsenal at a new university that white students could attend, and Alabama A&M was for black students only.

UAH's first undergraduate degrees were awarded in May 1968 as part of the spring commencement ceremony at The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, (although a "cap and gown" ceremony was held in Huntsville). One year later, the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees voted to make UAH an independent and autonomous campus. Dr. Benjamin Graves, a graduate of the University of Mississippi in 1942, who was president of Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi was tapped as UAH's first president in 1970. He returned to faculty status in 1979 and retired in 1989. The first degree awarded for work completed entirely on the UAH campus was awarded to Julian Palmore in 1964. Mr. Palmore was at the time a United States Navy ensign assigned to NASA's Research Projects Division. The first official on-campus graduation ceremony at UAH was in June 1970. The first woman to earn a PhD from UAH was Virginia Kobler in 1979, in Industrial Engineering.

UAH's second president, Dr. John Wright was Vice Chancellor of the West Virginia University and began his service in 1979. Wright's term ended in 1988 and Dr. Louis Padulo, former Stanford professor and dean of engineering of Boston University, became UAH's third president.

Huntsville leader Joseph Moquin took over the UAH presidency on an interim basis in 1990. Dr. Frank Franz, who was then provost at West Virginia University, was chosen as UAH's fourth president. His wife, Dr. Judy Franz, accompanied him and was granted full professorship in the physics faculty. Her renown in the scientific community was reaffirmed when she was named executive officer of the American Physical Society in 1994. At the beginning of the 2006–2007 academic year, Frank Franz announced his plan to step down as president after that year. On July 1, 2007, Dr. David B. Williams, formerly a professor of materials science and engineering and the vice provost for research at Lehigh University, began serving as UAH's fifth president. He left in 2011 to join The Ohio State University as dean of engineering. Robert Altenkirch was hired as the university's sixth president in September 2011. Dr. Altenkirch served as president of the New Jersey Institute of Technology for nine years before joining UAH.

Academics

Fall Freshman Statistics

	2014	2013	2012	2011
Applicants	2,104	2,054	1,938	1,952
Admits	1,726	1,656	1,505	1,243
% Admitted	82.0	80.6	77.6	63.6
Enrolled	724	651	624	677
Avg GPA	3.69	3.64	3.86	3.62

An experiment running in a lab in UAH (July 2009)

UAH offers 83 degree-granting programs, including 38 bachelor's degree programs, 29 Masters' degree programs, and 16 PhD programs through its eight colleges: Business, Engineering, Education, Liberal Arts, Nursing, Science and Graduate Studies. Nursing is UAH's largest single major, although Engineering is the largest college. There is also an Honors College which offers an enriched academic and community experience for undergraduates in all disciplines.

Not surprisingly given Huntsville's technology-based economy, UAH is known for engineering and science programs, including astrophysics, atmospheric science and aerospace engineering. UAH scientists managed the first "commercial," non-government rocket programs (Consort and Joust) in the U.S., the first "high-temperature" superconductor was discovered at UAH and the first U.S. experiment flown aboard the Soviet Mir space station was from UAH. UAH is a Space Grant university, and has a history of cooperation with NASA at the Marshall Space Flight Center, and the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal. In conjunction with helping NASA reach its goals, UAH makes NASA's research and technology available to all of Alabama's colleges and universities. The National Space Science and Technology Center is on the UAH campus.

The UAH Propulsion Research Center ([PRC]) is a research center that promotes interdisciplinary research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students. Popular Science cited the PRC as the third "most awesome" college lab in the United States. The PRC was founded by Dr. Clark W. Hawk in 1991 and has since provided support for NASA, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Energy. Research topics explored include air-breathing propulsion, solid, liquid & hybrid propellent combustion, magnetoinertial fusion, electric propulsion, high temperature materials, and space and terrestrial power systems.

Research in nanotechnology and microfabrication is administered by the Nano and Micro Devices Center.

At least nine departments or programs also hold accreditation from professional associations, including the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business, the American Chemical Society, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the Computing Sciences Accreditation Board, The National Association of Schools of Art and Design, and the National Association of Schools of Music.

Rankings

University rankings
National
U.S. News & World Report	181
Washington Monthly	167
Global

U.S. News & World Report ranks UAHuntsville as a Tier 1 national university. U.S. News & World Reports, for 2015, ranked UAH as tied for 103rd among national public universities. U.S. News & World Reports, for 2015, ranked UAH graduate program as 90th in Engineering and 54th in Nursing. In 2011, the Carnegie Foundation classified UAH as "very high" in the research category, making it one of an elite group of 73 U.S. public universities. UAH 2014 freshmen class's ACT score averaged 26.7, highest among of Alabama's public universities. USA Today and Princeton Review ranked UAH as one of the top 50 educational values in the U.S.

Compared with similar-sized public universities (~7500 students), UAH ranks #1 in research expenditure in the nation (>$97million). UAH usually partners with surrounding government agencies, like NASA, the U.S. Army, and other Department of Defense agencies and their associated contractors.

In the 2013 National Science Foundation federal research fundings rankings, UAH had four programs ranked in the top 20 in the nation. The top programs were No. 4 in federally funded R&D in aeronautical/astronautical engineering; No. 10 — in federally funded computer sciences; No. 10 in business and management research; 14th in federally funded atmospheric science; and No. 18 in astronomy. UAH ranks 14 in the nation in NASA-sponsored research and 16th in DoD research.

Athletics

Main article: Alabama–Huntsville Chargers

See also: Alabama–Huntsville Chargers men's ice hockey

UAH currently sponsors nine men's and nine women's varsity athletics programs. In 2016, UAH will add men's and woman's lacrosse to its varsity athletic programs. UAH is a member of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), competing in Division II in 17 sports and Division I in men's ice hockey. UAH is a member of the Gulf South Conference in all sports except hockey, which plays in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

Student life and activities

The Engineering Building

The Optics Building

Student government

The UAH Student Government Association is the primary recipient of student activity funding. With the exceptions of ACE (Association for Campus Entertainment) and the campus newspaper The Charger Times, all student organizations must be chartered with the SGA. The SGA hosts a number of events including Week of Welcome, an annual event that welcomes incoming freshman the weekend they arrive on campus through the first week of the semester. Events have included a hypnotist, live music, and the highly anticipated foam party. The SGA also charters two buses to allow approximately 80 UAH students to make an annual trip to Niagara, New York to cheer for the UAH Ice Hockey team as they compete against Niagara University.

Residence halls

UAH has five residence halls: Central Campus Residence Hall (CCRH), Frank Franz Hall, North Campus Residence Hall (NCRH), Southeast Campus Housing (SECH), and Charger Village (CV). Central Campus is reserved for first-time freshman students. Frank Franz Hall is reserved for first time students as well as Honors College students. Charger Village is reserved for sophomore students, whereas upper class students have option of living at the other residence halls.

Campus Housing originated with the construction of South East Housing. These suites were originally built by the late Dr. Benjamin Graves, the first President of UAH, with the assistance of the late Alabama Senator John Sparkman.

Each student on campus has the privilege of their own bedroom and shares a bathroom with one person, and a common area with three other individuals.

Greek life

UAH is home to the following fraternities and sororities. Most Greek organizations rent a fraternity or sorority house from the University. Each of these houses was constructed in 2006, made possible by donations from Mark and Linda Smith and Jim and Susie Hudson.

Sororities

• Alpha Kappa Alpha
• Delta Sigma Theta
• Delta Zeta
• Kappa Delta
• Alpha Omicron Pi
• Zeta Phi Beta

Fraternities

• Alpha Phi Alpha
• Alpha Tau Omega
• Delta Chi
• Kappa Alpha Psi
• Phi Beta Sigma
• Pi Kappa Alpha
• Sigma Nu
• Phi Kappa Psi

ACE

The Association for Campus Entertainment (ACE) is a student run and operated organization that hosts weekly events throughout the school year. as well as standing programs such as Tasty Tuesday, Friday Night Flicks and CU Sounds. Notable guests include Daniel Tosh and Recycled Percussion.

Clubs and organizations

UAH has more than 130 student-run organizations on campus. Team UAH is internationally renowned for its award-winning concrete canoe construction competition team, and is the current record holder with five national titles in 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2001. The National Concrete Canoe Competition is sponsored annually by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The UAH ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) also competes in the annual NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge. The UAH ASME chapter currently holds two championship titles.

The UAH Space Hardware Club is a volunteer student run club that conceptualizes, designs, builds, tests, and flies hardware for high altitude balloons, satellites in space (ChargerSat Program), the CanSat competition, and high-powered rocketry. Members must maintain a GPA of 3.0 on their college transcript.

Student Success Center

The Student Success Center (SSC) offers tutoring for nearly all freshman and sophomore level courses offered at UAH. Additional tutoring is available for math courses online and in person.

The SSC recruits university students for its PASS (Peer Assisted Study Sessions) program, in which students sit in on courses that they have already succeeded in, and offer class-specific study sessions outside of class, usually 3 hours per week. Historically difficult freshman courses are targeted for PASS, including Calculus, Chemistry, and Economics.

Recently, the SSC has absorbed the Cooperative Education program.

February 2010 shooting

Main article: 2010 University of Alabama in Huntsville shooting

• 

  February 12, 2010, shooting incident

Facilities

The Japanese Supplementary School in Huntsville (ハンツビル日本語補習校 Hantsubiru Nihongo Hoshū Jugyō Kō), a Japanese supplementary weekend school, holds its classes in Morton Hall, with a presence in the Business Administration Building. It opened in 1983 (Shōwa 58).

Notable alumni and faculty

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Werner J. A. Dahm	1978	Emeritus Professor of Aerospace Engineering at The University of Michigan, Professor at Arizona State University, former Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force
Jan Davis	1983, 1985	Astronaut (STS-47, STS-60, STS-85)
Marta Grande	2009	Italian Parliament Representative
John Hendricks	1974	Founder and chairman of Discovery Communications
Steve Hettinger	1974	Alabama State Representative (1982–1988), Mayor of Huntsville (1988–1996)
Scott Munroe	2006	Professional ice hockey player
Toyin Odutola	2008	Artist
James Record		Former chairman Madison County Commission and Alabama State Senator
Jared Ross	2005	Professional ice hockey player
Travis S. Taylor		Researcher & science fiction author
Cameron Talbot	2010	National Hockey League goaltender (New York Rangers)

External links

• Official website
• Alabama–Huntsville Athletics website
• University of Alabama System website