dogwood blooms and Denny Chimes

Faculty and Staff Accolades for March 2023

In addition to many individual achievements this month, The University of Alabama excelled at the American Advertising Federation Awards.

Awards and Elections  

Michael Innis-Jiménez, professor, American studies, was elected to the Organization of American Historians Executive Board, its governing board, to serve a three-year term. The Organization of American Historians is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history.  

Bülent Tosun, associate professor, mathematics, was awarded a Simons Foundation Fellowship for 2023-24. This fellowship will allow him to take a year’s leave, which he will spend as a member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University. 

Liz Vigil, associate director of admissions — orientation & special programs, received the 2023 Region VI Outstanding Orientation, Transition, and Retention Professional Award from NODA: Association for Orientation, Transition, and Retention in Higher Education. Contributions should include development or enhancement of a model orientation, transition or retention program that meets the varied needs of students; leadership within NODA; and/or other significant contributions to the field. 

Publications  

Dr. Fabio Battista, modern languages and classics, edited and translated “Federico Della Valle, The Queen of Scots / La reina di Scotia” (University of Toronto Press, 2023). Federico Della Valle, one of Italy’s most accomplished dramatists of the time, composed “La reina di Scotia (The Queen of Scots),” a tragedy depicting the final hours of the Scottish queen’s life. Battista provides an English-language annotated edition of Della Valle’s work, accompanied by a comprehensive introduction exploring the fictional afterlife of Mary Queen of Scots from the early modern period to today. 

Courtney K. Cross, assistant professor, Law School, authored “Coercive Control and the Limits of Criminal Law,” 56 UC Davis Law Review 195-246 (2022). 

Heather Elliott, Alumni Class of ‘36 Professor of Law, published “Original Discrimination: How the Supreme Court Disadvantages Plaintiff States,” 108 Iowa Law Review 175- 246 (2022) and coauthored a chapter titled “Civil Procedure: The Institutional Pragmatist,” in Ryan Vacca and Ann Bartow, editors, “The Jurisprudential Legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” (New York University Press, forthcoming 2023), pp. 77-92. 

Benjamin J. McMichael, associate professor, Law School, coauthored “Socially Distant Health Care,” 96 Tulsa Law Review 423-468 (2022). 

Clare Ryan, assistant professor, Law School, coauthored “LGBT Rights as Mega-Politics: Litigating Before the ECTHR,” 84 Law and Contemporary Problems 59-93 (2022). 

Dr. Cheryl Toman, professor and chair of the department of modern languages and classics, published her new edited collection with the University of Montreal Press. “Bilinguisme, plurilinguisme et francophonie Mythes et réalités” discusses bilingualism in the context of literature, cultural studies and linguistics. The book is the recipient of the Langues en Dialogue Prize from the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie. 

Exhibitions and Performances

Jamey Grimes, assistant professor, art and art history, had a solo exhibition, “Kalmia,” at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton.   

Holland Hopson, assistant professor, art and art history, published a new album, “Sky Sparrow Snow,” a collection of original songs merging old-time Appalachian banjo with ambient electronics. Hopson also had a visual work juried into the 38th Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition, a biennial graphic exhibition at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. 

Group of people holding Addy Awards.
Some of The University of Alabama staff celebrating wins at the American Advertising Federation Awards ceremony.

American Advertising Federation Awards 

The University of Alabama recently took home top professional awards from the American Advertising Federation-Tuscaloosa.   

Gold

The Division of Strategic Communications earned gold for the following:  

  • Where Legends are Made Commercial: internet commercial, single spot.  
  • Where Legends Are Made Commercial: cinematography single. 
  • Power of Pink 2022: video editing  
  • Veterans Day Cemetery Cleanup; corporate social responsibility film, video and sound.  
  • Where Legends are Made 7.0; integrated media campaign. 

 Silver

The University of Alabama National Alumni Association won silver for Alabama Alumni magazine cover illustration by Jonathan Cumberland, assistant professor in the department of art and art history.  

The Division of Strategic Communications earned silver for the following:  

  • The Giving Effect; collateral material, publication design, magazine design.  
  • Senior Viewbook 2022: collateral material, publication design, book design  
  • President’s Cabinet Christmas Card: card, invitation, announcement — single unit.  
  • Where Legends Are Made 7.0: websites, microsites.  
  • Tutwiler Hall Implosion: social media, single execution. 
  • Meet Architha Bommena; branded content and entertainment, online/interactive.  
  • Film, Video, & Sound category for Online Film, Video, And Sound, Internet Commercial – Campaign for Where Legends Are Made Commercials done for the Division of Strategic Communications. 
  • Our Story Class of 2022: online film, video and sound, single entry, more than 60 seconds.  
  • Where Legends Are Made Campaign: visual, still photography black and white/color/ digitally enhanced campaign. 
  • Where Legends Are Made Commercials, cinematography campaign.  

Best of Show 

The Division of Strategic Communications also won Best of Show for the Veterans Day Cemetery Cleanup video.  

Special Judges Award

The Division of Strategic Communications received special recognition for the following:  

  • Power of Pink 2022  
  • Best Use of Social Media for Tutwiler Hall Implosion  
  • Autherine Lucy Foster photography 

Mosaic Award

The Center for Public Television & Radio garnered the Mosaic award for Drexell & Honeybee’s: Angel Caro, producer; William Green, videographer.  

Ad Person of the Year

  • Michael Nix, assistant director of digital marketing, UA Online. 
  • Amy Martin, executive producer/creative services, WVUA 23. 

Silver Medal Award 

Rebecca Royen, IT and marketing manager, Center for Advanced Public Safety.