The University of Alabama Board of Trustees recently appointed six UA faculty members as Distinguished Research Professors and Distinguished Teaching Professors. The faculty members were recognized for their exceptional contributions to teaching and research at the Capstone.
“Distinguished Research and Teaching Professorships are among the highest honors awarded to faculty in The University of Alabama System, recognizing extraordinary scholarly, creative and instructional achievements that elevate the institution’s reputation nationally and internationally,” said Dr. Jim Dalton, UA executive vice president and provost. “They are selected through a rigorous nomination process that includes input from national experts, UA peers and former students.
“Each of our six new distinguished professors are accomplished scholars, whose achievements have brought great credit to UA.”
Distinguished Research Professors
The Distinguished Research Professors are Dr. Robin M. Boylorn, Dr. Hee Lee and Dr. Catherine M. Roach.
“The three newly appointed Distinguished Research Professors are leaders in their respective academic disciplines,” said Dalton. “They represent the breadth of research conducted at UA, advancing the fields of communications, health disparities research and romance studies through groundbreaking work that reaches both academic and public audiences.”
Dr. Robin M. Boylorn is the inaugural Holle Endowed Chair of Communication Arts and the founding director of the Holle Center for Communication Arts in the College of Communication and Information Sciences. Boylorn is also a Distinguished Research Professor of interpersonal and intercultural communication in the department of communication studies, and editor of Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, a top journal of the National Communication Association. A qualitative methodologist and critical autoethnographer, Boylorn’s work is concerned with culture, representation and narrative justice, with a focus on the communication and characterization of Black women and Black families in the U.S. South.
Dr. Hee Lee is a Distinguished Research Professor with the School of Social Work. Lee is also the Endowed Academic Chair in Social Work and serves as co-director of the Alabama Center for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. Her research focuses on reducing health disparities in underserved and rural communities, driven by a commitment to translating evidence into actionable practice and policy to improve health outcomes and well-being. With a background as a behavioral health scientist and interventionist, Lee leverages technologies such as AI, virtual reality, web apps, and sensors to promote health behavior change, and has developed eight technology-driven interventions that have been adopted in clinical practice and health insurance settings.
Dr. Catherine M. Roach is a Distinguished Research Professor in New College. A two-time Fulbright Award winner with a doctorate degree from Harvard University, Roach works in gender, sexuality and popular culture studies. She is author of four academic books, as well as two historical romance novels written as Catherine LaRoche, and has held visiting fellowships and delivered lectures at universities in Australia, Canada, Scotland, England and Greece. Roach has been a fellow in UA’s Collaborative Arts Research Initiative and continues working with colleagues and community partners to bring research alive through the arts for a broad public audience.
Distinguished Teaching Professors
The Distinguished Teaching Professors are Dr. Bryan K. Fair, Dr. Jeff Gray and Dr. Claire Howell Major.
“Similarly, the three Distinguished Teaching Professors are exemplary educators and mentors, with national and international recognition for their contributions to instruction in law, STEM education and computer science and college pedagogy, reflecting the University’s commitment to teaching excellence and innovation,” said Dalton.
Dr. Bryan K. Fair is the Thomas E. Skinner Professor of Law and a Distinguished Teaching Professor with the School of Law. Fair joined the Alabama law faculty in 1991 and was named the Thomas E. Skinner Professor of Law in 2000. He is a frequent member of the law school commencement hooding team and has been named the law school’s Outstanding Faculty Member multiple times, both of which are selected by students. Fair has also received the UA’s Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award given each year by the National Alumni Association.
Dr. Jeff Gray is a Distinguished Teaching Professor in the College of Engineering and serves as the director of the Randall Research Scholars Program. Gray’s research interests are in the areas of software engineering, computer science education, programming languages and human-computer interaction — with a specific interest in opportunities to support interdisciplinary research. Over the past two decades, he has mentored high school students (35 projects, with 11 International Science Fair finalists), undergraduate students (more than 160 student projects with multiple publications and awards), and doctoral students (chair of 17 completed doctorate dissertations).
Dr. Claire Howell Major is a Distinguished Teaching Professor of higher education and director of the UA Teaching Academy. Major’s research centers on faculty work, pedagogical approaches, technology for teaching and online learning. She has authored and co-authored several books, including five with Elizabeth Barkley. Their newest work is titled, “Engaged Teaching: A Handbook for College Faculty.” They also have four additional texts that comprise the College Teaching Techniques series published by Wiley/Jossey Bass: Interactive Lecturing, Student Engagement Techniques, Collaborative Learning Techniques, and Learning Assessment Techniques. In addition, Major has published several books on qualitative research methods. She has made more than 100 presentations worldwide and co-founded the K. Patricia Cross Academy.