The University of Alabama

The following people recently were initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines.

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is proud to announce the recipients of a 2019 Love of Learning Award. The awards help fund post-baccalaureate studies and career development for active Society members.

A total of 477 students enrolled during the 2019 summer term at The University of Alabama were named to the Dean's List with an academic record of 3.5 or above or the President's List with an academic record of 4.0 (all A's). The UA Dean's and President's lists recognize full-time undergraduate students. The lists do not apply to graduate students or to undergraduate students who take less than a full course load.

The University of Alabama awarded some 1,450 degrees during its spring commencement Aug. 3. With a beautiful campus, dozens of challenging academic programs, expert faculty and numerous opportunities for service and growth, The University of Alabama is a place where legends are made. UA offers its students a premier educational, cultural and social experience with more than 200 undergraduate, graduate and professional programs. The campus gives students the opportunity to interact with faculty performing cutting-edge research.

More than 220 University of Alabama students are receiving hands-on, innovative and advanced educational experiences with dozens of companies and organizations across the United States through UA's Cooperative Education Program for fall 2019. In the Cooperative Education Program, students alternate periods of full-time study with periods of full-time employment. This program offers work related to the academic major or career interests of each student. While in school, students carry regular course schedules. While on co-op, they work with professionals in their fields who supervise their training and work. At work, co-op students earn competitive salaries and may receive benefit packages in addition to valuable job experience. Participants maintain their full-time student status while at work and have priority registration status each semester through graduation.

The Randall Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award Program recognizes the best research activity conducted by undergraduate students at The University of Alabama. Undergraduate students who have conducted significant scholarly research are nominated by faculty and staff research directors. The recipients and their nominators were recognized at a luncheon in their honor during UA's Honors Week. In 1997, the Randall Publishing Co. and the H. Pettus Randall III family created the Randall Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award Program in memory of Henry Pettus Randall Jr., a distinguished UA alumnus and creator of Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. UA research faculty members and past winners of the Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award select the winners.

A total of 11,406 students enrolled during the 2019 spring term at The University of Alabama were named to the Dean's List with an academic record of 3.5 or above or the President's List with an academic record of 4.0 (all A's). The UA Dean's and President's lists recognize full-time undergraduate students. The lists do not apply to graduate students or to undergraduate students who take less than a full course load.

The University of Alabama awarded some 5,716 degrees during its spring commencement May 3-5. With a beautiful campus, dozens of challenging academic programs, expert faculty and numerous opportunities for service and growth, The University of Alabama is a place where legends are made. UA offers its students a premier educational, cultural and social experience with more than 200 undergraduate, graduate and professional programs. The campus gives students the opportunity to interact with faculty performing cutting-edge research.

For the second consecutive year, a senior robotics team from The University of Alabama took home a win at an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers regional conference. Brandon Quinn, Julia Lanier, Trent Whalen, Katie McCray and David Weil, senior computer engineering students, competed at IEEE SoutheastCon 2019 in Huntsville. Six senior computer engineering students won the Student Hardware Competition at IEEE SoutheastCon 2019 in Huntsville. Dr. Ken Ricks, faculty adviser and associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, doesn't think any school has ever won twice in a row.

Nearly 60 students are serving on The University of Alabama's Avanti team -- a group that seeks to welcome new students during the Bama Bound orientation process. By becoming acquainted with Capstone academic programs and co-curricular opportunities, the Avanti Team provides essential support in preparing incoming students to meet the challenges of enrollment and in welcoming high school groups to campus for large-scale recruitment events. The Avanti team functions under the auspices of the Office of Orientation and Special Programs in the Division of Academic Affairs.

For the fifth consecutive year, the student robotics team from The University of Alabama won NASA's grand prize in its Robotics Mining Competition. Made up of 60 students, primarily from UA's College of Engineering, Alabama Astrobotics won the Joe Kosmo Award for Excellence, the grand prize, in NASA's 2019 robotic mining competition, NASA announced. UA's teams previously placed first in 2012 and from 2015-2018.

The University of Alabama's team of 20 Parent Ambassadors welcomes more than 8,000 incoming parents and family members to UA during the summer. They work for Parent & Family Programs within the Division of Student Life. Students who are Parent Ambassadors receive opportunities to build their leadership skills and to work with other student leaders and professionals from across campus.

More than 280 University of Alabama students are receiving hands-on, innovative and advanced educational experiences with dozens of companies and organizations across the United States through UA's Cooperative Education Program for summer 2019. In the Cooperative Education Program, students alternate periods of full-time study with periods of full-time employment. This program offers work related to the academic major or career interests of each student. While in school, students carry regular course schedules. While on co-op, they work with professionals in their fields who supervise their training and work. At work, co-op students earn competitive salaries and may receive benefit packages in addition to valuable job experience. Participants maintain their full-time student status while at work and have priority registration status each semester through graduation.

Five graduating seniors at The University of Alabama will participate in the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. In addition, two students from other institutions will be using fellowships at UA The students are among 2,000 NSF Graduate Research Fellows selected from more than 13,000 applicants to receive financial support for graduate studies.

The University of Alabama Honors College has selected 41 incoming freshmen for the Randall Research Scholars Program. The nationally recognized undergraduate research program pairs exceptional students directly with leading research faculty to complete scholarly research projects. Students must apply to the program and are selected after a rigorous review process that includes an on-campus interview.

Morgan Ross, who studied metallurgical and materials engineering at The University of Alabama, received the 2019 Capstone Engineering Society Outstanding Senior Award. A native of Meridian, Mississippi, she earned 10 different scholarship awards and a 4.08 grade point average during her time at UA. Ross was in the University Honors Program and the Randall Research Scholars Program. She became a member of honor societies Tau Beta Pi, The Anderson Society, Mortar Board, Omicron Delta Kappa, Cardinal Key, The XXXI, Alpha Lambda Delta, Phi Eta Sigma and Golden Key International. Ross was named 2018 RRSP Outstanding Junior, 2017 UA Outstanding Sophomore and 2016 MTE E.C. Wright Outstanding Sophomore. In 2017, she won the C.H.T. Wilkins Award for Excellence. During summer 2017, Ross was a research intern with the Army Education Outreach Program conducting thin film studies. She also worked with Dr. Gregory Thompson, UA professor of metallurgical and materials engineering, studying ultra-high temperature ceramics and coatings. Ross has presented her work at seven events during her undergraduate career including the 42nd Annual Conference on Composites, Materials and Structures. "She has been outstanding asset to our department and my research group. She exhibited maturity, professionalism, and dedication in both the classroom, evident by an excellent GPA, and accomplishments in the lab," Thompson said. In 2018, she earned first place in the UA System Casting Competition and first-place oral presentation at the UA Systems Conference. At the 2018 Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Conference, Ross came in first in the College of Engineering category and second in the Engineering, Technology and Energy category. At the Capstone, she served in several leadership positions including secretary of the Materials Advantage/American Foundry Society, vice president of STEAM Alabama, professionalism committee head of RRSP, middle school outreach chairman of the Society of Women Engineers, vice president of involvement for University Stewards, and a student instructor in Honors Cultural Literacy. Ross was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority and participated in the UA Honors Study Abroad Program in New Zealand. She also worked as an assistant to UA President Emeritus Dr. Robert Witt. "She is extremely bright, creative, hardworking and very dependable," Witt said. "I would rank Morgan in the top 1 percent of students I have worked with in my over 50 years in higher education." In 2018, Ross was a summer measurement engineering intern at Corning, Inc. in Hickory, North Carolina. This summer she will intern with Chevron in Mississippi. In the fall, she will return to UA to finish her metallurgical engineering master's degree in UA's Accelerated Master's Program. The Capstone Engineering Society, the alumni association for the College of Engineering, was established in 1973. CES is dedicated to maintaining relationships with UA engineering alumni to ensure the College is able to provide UA engineering and computer science students with a superior educational experience. The CES began the Outstanding Senior Award in 1986 to honor an exceptional student who deserves distinction among his or her peers. An outstanding student is selected from the 11 academic programs in the College, and the overall winner is determined by a selection committee after assessing each student's academic performance, professional and technical activities, College leadership, external leadership and other activities.

The Order of Omega chapter at The University of Alabama presented awards at its recent annual banquet. Order of Omega is a leadership honor society for members of fraternity and sorority organizations. Order of Omega recognizes juniors and seniors who have exemplified high standards in the areas of scholarship, leadership and involvement within their respective organizations, the campus and the community.

Ten University of Alabama students were chosen as Fulbright Student Award Winners for 2019-2020. "Congratulations to UA's 2019-2020 Fulbright winners and alternates," said Dr. Teresa E. Wise, associate provost for international education and global outreach. "During their year abroad, these leaders of tomorrow are putting into action the diverse and intercultural experiences and education that UA provides." The highly competitive U.S. Student Fulbright Program provides grants for individually designed study and research projects or for English-teaching assistantships to 160 countries. More than 10,000 applicants compete for approximately 2,100 awards each year. "These students have emerged from the national Fulbright competition as the best in the nation," said Dr. Beverly Hawk, UA Fulbright program adviser and director of global and community engagement in the Center for Community-Based Partnerships "They represent our excellence in education to the nation and the world. Through their individual community engagement activities overseas, these Fulbright winners will develop lasting international ties for Alabama and the USA." Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Fulbright is the largest U.S. international exchange program, offering opportunities for students, scholars and professionals. Alternates may be brought forward to serve at any time should winners be unable to travel to the designated country, or if additional federal funds become available.

Apparel design students at The University of Alabama's College of Human Environmental Sciences let their imaginations run wild for a special fashion show that celebrated Earth Week. Tasked with upcycling finds from thrift stores, family attics and a few unconventional sources, designers created a array of clothing for the annual Tee Time Fashion Show on April 16.

Beat Auburn Beat Hunger staff members have started planning for their 26th year food drive campaign at The University of Alabama. Beat Auburn Beat Hunger is an annual student-run event that was created by the Center for Service and Leadershipand the West Alabama Food Bank in 1994. During the six weeks leading up to the Iron Bowl, the food drive unites University of Alabama students, faculty, staff, alumni, and Tuscaloosa and Northport community members to help fight hunger and poverty in West Alabama. In competition with Auburn University and the Food Bank of East Alabama, BABH challenges both institutions to collect the most food and monetary donations to help their local food bank. This good-natured competition has made an impact that reaches far beyond the campuses where it began. Since its inception, Alabama and Auburn have combined to raise 6.6 million pounds of food for Alabamians in need.

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program has selected three University of Alabama students as Goldwater Scholars for 2019-2020. The selections bring to 56 the number of UA students who have received Goldwater scholarships. The three UA students are: Thomas "Hank" Richards is a physics and mathematics major and Randall Research Scholar from San Antonio, Texas. At UA, he has worked under Dr. Igor Ostrovskiy, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, with the EXO-200 project, an experimental search for a hypothetical form of exotic nuclear decay called neutrinoless double beta decay. His role in the project is to use deep machine learning methods to search for signals of this decay. Outside of UA, he completed a nuclear physics research project at Vanderbilt University in summer 2018 under Dr. Joseph Hamilton. His parents are Michael and Beth Richards. Ryan Tuckey is a third-year undergraduate from Middletown, Maryland, and is the vice president of the Alabama Undergraduate Research Association and a Research Ambassador at UA. His parents are Taraneh and Brian Tuckey, and he has come to UA with 1.5 years of research experience from the National Cancer Institute. While working at NCI, Tuckey was able to contribute to a publication in the journal Nature and also has recently been published as a co-author in Disease Models and Mechanisms from work done during the three years he has worked in the Caldwell Laboratory at UA. Peyton Strickland is a junior from Pelham pursuing his Bachelor and Master of Science in aerospace engineering and mechanics. He has conducted research under the advisement of Dr. Semih Olcmen, professor in aerospace engineering, since the spring of his freshman year. His work, sponsored by The MITRE Corp., investigates the use of a low-cost K-band communication satellite constellation to meet our nation's low Earth orbit space object communication needs. Outside of research, Strickland is a volunteer C++ coding instructor at Central High School, UA American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics president-elect and a member of the Alabama Rocketry Association's Project ARES. Scholarships of up to $7,500 a year are provided to help recipients cover costs associated with tuition, mandatory fees, books and room and board.

The Coca-Cola Foundation is continuing its support for the Coca-Cola First Generation Scholars program at The University of Alabama with a new four-year grant award of $1 million. The new grant will fund the program through 2022. The program was first established at UA in 2006 with an initial $1 million gift. Since that time, The Coca-Cola Foundation has awarded $4 million to support first generation scholars at Alabama.

The University of Alabama has inducted a new group of students into its chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Founded on Dec. 5, 1776, The Phi Beta Kappa Society is the nation's most prestigious academic honor society. It has chapters at 286 colleges and universities in the United States, 50 alumni associations, and more than half a million members worldwide. Noteworthy members include 17 U.S. presidents, 39 justices of the Supreme Court of the United States and more than 130 Nobel laureates. The mission of The Phi Beta Kappa Society is to champion education in the liberal arts and sciences, foster freedom of thought, and recognize academic excellence. UA's chapter was founded in 1851. Students are elected to membership on the basis of outstanding academic achievement in the liberal arts and sciences.

The University of Alabama Division of Student Life awarded the 2019 Penny Allen Awards to Brooke Bailey and Courtney Thomas. The Penny Allen Award is an annual award given to one student and one faculty or staff member at UA. The award recognizes selfless service, unfailing commitment, leadership and contributions to student life at UA.

Erin Behland, a University of Alabama graduating senior from Chicago, has received a Critical Language Scholarship to study Mandarin in China. Behland is majoring in international relations, history and anthropology with a minor in Chinese. She previously received a Critical Language Scholarship in 2017. Since her first scholarship, Behland has studied at The University of Glasgow in Scotland and traveled across Greece studying ancient western civilization via the UA in Greece study abroad program.

The Omicron Delta Kappa Society is the national leadership honor society for college students, faculty, staff, administrators and alumni that recognizes and encourages superior scholarship, leadership, and exemplary character. Membership in ODK is a mark of the highest distinction and honor. Omicron Delta Kappa recognizes and encourages achievement in scholarship; athletics; campus or community service; social and religious activities; campus government; journalism, speech and the mass media; and creative and performing arts.

Blue Key is a premier honor society that recognizes college students for balanced and all-around excellence in scholarship, leadership and service.

The Anderson Society is a leadership honorary that recognizes students who have made significant contributions to The University of Alabama. Twenty-four students are accepted each year; and seven honorary memberships are awarded to faculty and graduating seniors. While these contributions often take many forms, there are certain qualities of members of the Anderson Society that are prominently and ubiquitously found -- an immersion into some sort of community service, passion for improving the university community through both explicit and implicit means, and persistent effort to attain excellence in some sphere of university life. Once an Anderson initiate, members are expected to continue to devote themselves to service, some directly under the auspices of the Anderson Society, but much more individually.

Mortar Board is the premier national honor society recognizing college seniors for superior achievement in scholarship, leadership and service. The University of Alabama's Hypatia Chapter is one of the oldest chapters in the nation. Only a select few students on each campus are invited to join this esteemed society. Mortar Board members are presented with the opportunity to join a diverse group of students from different disciplines and interests.

The University of Alabama's Black Faculty and Staff Association recently recognized students who received premier academic awards for 2018-19. The students were honored on Black Scholars Day. The mission of the Black Faculty and Staff Association is to contribute to the betterment of UA a by serving as an advocate for educational equity, with an emphasis on African-American students, and the professional needs of its members. To that end, this organization promotes and provides opportunities for networking among individuals and groups to articulate mutual concerns and advance educational opportunities.