A Message from the President – February 18, 2021
- February 18th, 2021
- in Messages from the President
Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,
I hope you enjoyed a safe extended weekend thanks to the winter weather earlier this week.
With an ongoing emphasis on testing and the continuation of our vaccine distribution to faculty and staff, we have seen a steady decline in positive COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. Because of the talented staff at our Student Health Center and University Medical Center, symptomatic and exposure testing continue to run smoothly and remain available for everyone in our UA community.
The Student Health Center’s medical professionals have dedicated long hours to serving our students over the past year, providing a skilled standard of care that has been both indispensable and impressive. I sincerely appreciate the servant leadership of our medical teams and staff.
This week we continue our celebration of Black History Month. Please make time to visit the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion website to review the special programming to showcase African American culture and to support our path forward as an accepting, inclusive community. Join me in honoring the many black students, alumni, faculty and staff who have positively shaped UA’s history and legacy by learning more about their contributions and accomplishments.
Our legendary faculty and alumni contribute to our communities and the world with a pioneering impact on projects beyond the realm of our planet. In 2025, UA engineering researchers, including Dr. Rohan Sood, will partner with Marshall Space Flight Center and NASA to better understand how the sun and solar system function. We also look forward to the results of work led by Dr. Marcia Hay-McCutcheon through a $2.18 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for improving the lives of individuals with hearing loss in underserved, rural Alabama communities. Our revolutionary work as leaders in research, service and teaching continues in earnest and with unrivaled excellence.
Students, as we complete the sixth week of the spring term, I hope you will continue to set and pursue SMART goals to aid your focus on academic success. Learning is a lifelong process, and our dedicated faculty and staff are here to walk beside you on the journey toward a remarkable future.
Stay healthy; stay warm; and stay Tide Together. You make me proud.
Stuart R. Bell
President