UA Professor Honored for Mentoring by Doctoral Scholars Institute

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Alisha Malloy, assistant professor of information systems, statistics and management science in The University of Alabama Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, has received the Southern Regional Education Board Faculty Mentor of the Year Award at the national conference that annually gathers the nation’s largest group of minority Ph.D. students, doctoral graduates and faculty mentors.

Malloy was nominated by doctoral student Shywanda Moore for her mentoring and support of the UA doctoral student as she progressed toward her degree.

In her nomination letter, Moore wrote that Malloy provided exceptional help and concern when she faced financial difficulties in completing her studies and helped her find child care.

Malloy always believed that mentoring was mutual. “It is only natural for me to lift others through mentoring while I continue to climb to fulfill my work,” Malloy said. “It was blatantly apparent that there were very few minorities and women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields when I was in my formative years. At that time, I decided that I would pursue a Ph.D. to make a difference inside the classroom in order to make a difference throughout corporate America,” she noted.

The award, one of only five presented to faculty mentors from across the nation, was given at the Compact for Faculty Diversity’s 13th Annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, held in Miami this fall.

This is the second year in a row that a UA faculty member has received the mentoring honor. Last year, Dr. Debra Nelson-Gardell, associate professor in the UA School of Social Work, was the recipient.

The Southern Regional Education Board is one of the key participants in the Compact for Faculty Diversity’s annual institute. The SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program alone has provided assistance to more than 650 doctoral students in the past 13 years, greatly expanding the number of students from racial/ethnic minority groups who have earned a doctorate.