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Former name | University of Alabama Huntsville Center (1950–1969) |
|---|---|
| Type | Publicresearch university |
| Established | January 6, 1950; 75 years ago (1950-01-06)[1][2] |
Parent institution | University of Alabama System |
| Accreditation | SACS |
Academic affiliations | |
| Endowment | $79.5 million (2015)[3] |
| President | Charles L. Karr |
| Provost | David Puleo |
Academic staff | 520 (fall 2024)[4] |
| Students | 8,564 (fall 2024)[5] |
| Undergraduates | 6,800 (fall 2024)[5] |
| Postgraduates | 1,764 (fall 2024)[5] |
| Location | ,, United States 34°43′30″N86°38′24″W / 34.72500°N 86.64000°W /34.72500; -86.64000 |
| Campus | Midsize city, 505 acres (2.04 km2)[6] |
| Newspaper | The Charger Times |
| Colors | Royal blue and white |
| Nickname | Chargers |
Sporting affiliations | |
| Mascot | Charger Blue |
| Website | www |
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TheUniversity of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH, formerly known asUAHuntsville) is apublicresearch university inHuntsville, Alabama, United States. It is part of theUniversity of Alabama System and isclassified among "R2: High Research Spending and Doctorate Production".[7]
The university offers 94 degrees across its 8 colleges, leading tobachelor's,master's, anddoctoral degrees. It is known for its research inastronomy,atmospheric science, andaerospace engineering, and frequently collaborates withNASA on research projects.[8][9]
| Name | Tenure |
|---|---|
| Graves | (1970–1978) |
| Wright | (1978–1988) |
| Padulo | (1988–1990) |
| Moquin | (interim, 1990) |
| Franz | (1991–2007) |
| Williams | (2007–2011) |
| Altenkirch | (2011–2019) |
| Dawson | (2019–2021) |
| Karr | (2021–) |
The genesis for a publicly funded institution of higher education inHuntsville was years in the making. Beginning in January 1950 as an extension of theUniversity of Alabama and known as the University of Alabama Huntsville Center, classes were first taught at West Huntsville High School.
However, the university's direction changed in 1961, whenWernher von Braun, a German rocket scientist brought to the United States underOperation Paperclip after working for theNazi regime, helped create a research institute to provide advanced engineering and science curricula to NASA scientists and engineers.[1] This institute was built off ofUS 72, shortly thereafter renamedUniversity Drive. Throughout the years, the campus expanded south alongSparkman Drive to reachInterstate 565.
UAH's first undergraduate degrees were awarded in May 1968 as part of the spring commencement ceremony at The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, (although a "cap and gown" ceremony was held in Huntsville). One year later, the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees voted to make UAH an independent and autonomous campus. Benjamin Graves, a 1942 graduate of theUniversity of Mississippi and president ofMillsaps College inJackson, Mississippi, was tapped as UAH's first president in 1970. He returned to faculty status in 1979 and retired in 1989. The first degree awarded for work completed entirely on the UAH campus was awarded to Julian Palmore in 1964. Mr. Palmore was at the time aUnited States Navyensign assigned toNASA's Research Projects Division. The first official on-campus graduation ceremony at UAH was in June 1970. The first woman to earn a Ph.D. from UAH was Virginia Kobler in 1979, inIndustrial Engineering.
UAH's second president, John Wright, former ViceChancellor of theWest Virginia University, served from 1979 to 1988. UAH's third president was Louis Padulo, former Stanford professor and dean of engineering of Boston University. Huntsville leader Joseph Moquin took over the UAH presidency on an interim basis in 1990. Frank Franz, who was thenprovost atWest Virginia University, was chosen as UAH's fourth president. His wife, Judy Franz, accompanied him and was granted full professorship in the physics faculty. Her renown in the scientific community was reaffirmed when she was named executive officer of theAmerican Physical Society in 1994.
At the beginning of the 2006–2007 academic year, Franz announced his plan to step down as president after that year.[10] On July 1, 2007, David B. Williams, formerly a professor of materials science and engineering and the viceprovost for research atLehigh University, began serving as UAH's fifth president. He left in 2011 to joinOhio State University as dean of engineering.[11]
Robert Altenkirch was hired as the university's sixth president in September 2011. Altenkirch served as president of theNew Jersey Institute of Technology for nine years before joining UAH. In 2019, Darren Dawson, former dean of the College of Engineering at Kansas State University, became UAH's seventh president. Dawson announced his retirement in November 2021, and Charles L. Karr, former dean of the University of Alabama's College of Engineering, was named interim president, later officially named president in September 2022.[12][13][14]
In October 2025, Karr announced plans to retire in May 2026.[15] As of November 2025, the search for the university's next president is currently underway.[16]
The university briefly gained national attention in February 2010 when aprofessor killed three people and wounded three others during a faculty meeting.
| Applicants | Admits | % Admitted | Enrolled | Avg GPA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 5,793 | 4,467 | 77.1 | 1,345 | 3.81 |
| 2019 | 5,295 | 4,372 | 82.6 | 1,497 | 3.9 |
| 2018 | 4,465 | 3,590 | 80.4 | 1,428 | 3.87 |
| 2017 | 4,322 | 3,573 | 82.7 | 1,340 | 3.89 |
| 2016 | 4,374 | 3,337 | 76.3 | 1,193 | 3.73 |
| 2015 | 3,358 | 2,706 | 80.6 | 1,027 | 3.72 |
| 2014 | 2,104 | 1,726 | 67.0 | 724 | 3.69 |
| 2013 | 2,054 | 1,656 | 80.6 | 651 | 3.64 |
| 2012 | 1,938 | 1,505 | 77.6 | 624 | 3.86 |
| 2011 | 1,952 | 1,243 | 63.6 | 677 | 3.62 |
UAH offers 94 degree-granting programs through its eight colleges: the College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (AHS), the College of Business, the College of Education, Sport, and Human Sciences (ESHS), the College of Engineering, the Honors College, the College of Nursing, the College of Science, and the Graduate School. Nursing is UAH's largest single major, although Engineering is the largest college.
UAH is known for its engineering and science programs, including astrophysics, atmospheric science, aerospace engineering, cybersecurity, and digital animation. The first commercial non-rocketry programs (Consort and Joust) in the U.S. were managed by UAH scientists, the first"high-temperature" superconductor was discovered at UAH, and the first U.S. experiment flown aboard the Soviet Mir Space Station was from UAH. UAH is aSpace Grant university and has a history of cooperation withNASA'sMarshall Space Flight Center and theU.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command atRedstone Arsenal. In conjunction with helping NASA reach its goals, UAH makes NASA's research and technology available to all of Alabama's colleges and universities. TheNational Space Science and Technology Center is one of 17 high-tech research centers on UAH 505-acre campus.
The UAH Propulsion Research Center (PRC) promotes interdisciplinary research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students. The PRC was founded by Dr. Clark W. Hawk in 1991 and has since provided support for NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), and the U.S. Department of Energy. Research topics include air-breathing and electric propulsion, solid, liquid & hybrid propellant combustion, magnetoinertial fusion, high-temperature materials, and space and terrestrial power systems.
Research in nanotechnology and microfabrication is conducted by theNano and Micro Devices Center.
Atmospheric Sciences and related research areas are headquartered in theNSSTC and SWIRLL buildings.
At least nine departments or programs also hold accreditation from professional associations, including theAccreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, theAmerican Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business, theAmerican Chemical Society, theCommission on Collegiate Nursing Education, theComputing Sciences Accreditation Board,The National Association of Schools of Art and Design, and theNational Association of Schools of Music.
| Academic rankings | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Forbes[18] | 325 |
| U.S. News & World Report[19] | 244 (tie) |
| Washington Monthly[20] | 417 |
| WSJ/College Pulse[21] | 390 |
| Global | |
| THE[22] | 601–800 |
| U.S. News & World Report[23] | 1337 (tie) |
UAH ranked 244th among "National Universities" and No. 135 for "Top Public Schools" in the 2025U.S. News & World Report "Best Colleges" report.[24]
UAH sponsors six men's and seven women'svarsity athletics programs. In 2016, UAH added men's and women's lacrosse to its varsity athletic programs.[25] UAH is a member of theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), competing inDivision II in 13 sports. UAH is a member of theGulf South Conference in all sports except men's lacrosse, which plays in thePeach Belt Conference.
Both men's and women's tennis programs were discontinued in June 2020 due to financial difficulties from COVID-19.[26] After a privately funded 2020–2021 season, the men's hockey program was also discontinued in May 2021.[27]
| Race and ethnicity | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 69% | ||
| Black | 9% | ||
| Hispanic | 7% | ||
| Two or more races | 5% | ||
| Asian | 4% | ||
| Unknown | 3% | ||
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 1% | ||
| International student | 1% | ||
| Economic diversity | |||
| Low-income[a] | 23% | ||
| Affluent[b] | 77% | ||
The UAH Student Government Association (SGA) is the primary recipient of student-activity funding from UAH's Office of Student Life. The Space Hardware Club, a registered student organization in the College of Engineering is the secondary recipient. The SGA holds an advisory role with campus administrators on activities involving students. The SGA hosts a number of events including Week of Welcome, an annual event welcoming students back to campus that begins the weekend they arrive on campus and runs through the first week of each fall semester.
UAH has six residence halls: Central Campus, Charger Village Addition, Charger Village Original, Frank Franz, North Campus, and Southeast. Central Campus, Frank Franz, and North are reserved for first-time freshmen. Frank Franz Hall is reserved for first-time Honors College students. Charger Village Addition and Charger Village Original are reserved for sophomores, whereas juniors and seniors have the option of living at the other residence halls.
Campus housing originated with the construction of Southeast Campus Housing. These suites were originally built under the auspices of the late Dr. Benjamin Graves, the first President of UAH, with the assistance of the late Alabama SenatorJohn Sparkman.
UAH is home to several fraternities and sororities. Most Greek organizations rent a fraternity or sorority house from the university. Construction of the original houses was made possible by donations from Mark and Linda Smith and Jim and Susie Hudson.
The Association for Campus Entertainment (ACE) is a student run and operated organization that hosts weekly events throughout the academic year as well as standing programs such as Friday Night Flicks, Sunday Cinema, Late-Night Breakfast, and ACE Wednesday. Notable guests includeDaniel Tosh and Recycled Percussion.[29]
UAH has more than 150 student-run organizations on campus. Team UAH has won severalconcrete canoe construction competitions with five national titles in 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2001. The National Concrete Canoe Competition is sponsored annually by theAmerican Society of Civil Engineers.[30] The UAH American Society of Mechanical Engineers student chapter also competes in the annual NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge. It holds two championship titles. The UAH Space Hardware Club conceptualizes, designs, builds, tests, and flies hardware for high-altitude balloons, satellites (ChargerSat Program), the CanSat competition, and high-powered rocketry.[31]
The Student Success Center (SSC) offers tutoring for nearly all freshman- and sophomore-level courses offered at UAH. Additional tutoring is available for math courses online and in person.
The SSC recruits university students for its PASS (Peer Assisted Study Sessions) program, in which students sit in on courses that they have already succeeded in, and offers class-specific study sessions outside of class, usually 3 hours per week. Historically difficult freshman courses are targeted for PASS, including calculus, chemistry, and economics.
The College of Science houses the Alabama High Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Center, which is dedicated to providing modern high field NMR capabilities to academic and corporate researchers in the state of Alabama and surrounding areas.
UAH's Earth System Science Center is dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of the Earth as an integrated system with an emphasis on space- and ground-basedremote sensing data.
UAH's Department of Biological Sciences partners with the Dauphin Island Sea Lab to offer research opportunities to UAH students through the Marine Environmental Sciences Consortium.
UAH's Psychology Department has eight research labs: Lifelong Learning, Memory and Cognition, Personality Testing and Assessment, Privacy in Cyberspace, Psychobiology, Teamwork and Social Cognition, Employee Engagement and Productivity, and Leadership and Organizational Behavior.
UAH's Propulsion Research Center connects the academic research community and the propulsion community through interdisciplinary collaboration in the following areas: aerospace materials and structures, computational modeling, energy and power systems, fusion propulsion and power, plasmas and combustion, propellants and energetics, and propulsion systems integration.
UAH's College of Engineering is home to the following labs:
UAH's Kinesiology Research Lab, located in the College of Education, has an underwater treadmill that enables students to conduct aquatic exercise research on adults with type 2 diabetes and lower-limb amputation.
SWIRLL (Severe Weather Institute – Radar and Lightning Laboratories) is a core research facility dedicated to research on severe and hazardous weather, radar meteorology, lightning meteorology, lightning physics, and air quality. It comprises a research operations center with multiple workstations, a high bay used for the maintenance and fabrication of comprehensive mobile platforms and other instruments, a sounding preparation lab, and five roof platforms to support instrument testing and data collection.
UAH's Learning and Technology Resource Center, located in the College of Nursing, offers high-tech, hands-on clinical experience thanks to its high-fidelity simulators, telehealth robots, and laboratory spaces.
UAH's Early Learning Center, an outreach and service unit of the College of Education, provides inclusive early childhood education for children in developmentally appropriate classrooms.
| Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lori Mann Bruce | Seventh Chancellor of theUniversity of Tennessee at Chattanooga (2025-) | [32] | |
| Werner J. A. Dahm | 1978 | Emeritus Professor of Aerospace Engineering atThe University of Michigan, Professor atArizona State University, formerChief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force | [33] |
| Jan Davis | 1983, 1985 | Astronaut (STS-47,STS-60,STS-85) | [34] |
| Marta Grande | 2009 | Italian Parliament Representative and from June 2018 President of the Foreign Committee of Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament | |
| Jeffrey S. Harper | 1993 | Executive Director of Graduate Programs in the Scott College of Business atIndiana State University | |
| John Hendricks | 1974 | Founder and chairman ofDiscovery Communications | [35] |
| Steve Hettinger | 1974 | Alabama State Representative (1982–1988),Mayor of Huntsville (1988–1996) | [36] |
| Josh Magette | 2012 | National Basketball Association Point Guard (Atlanta Hawks,Orlando Magic) | |
| Scott Munroe | 2006 | Professional ice hockey player | [37] |
| Toyin Odutola | 2008 | Artist | [38] |
| James Record | Former chairman Madison County Commission andAlabama State Senator | [39] | |
| Jared Ross | 2005 | Professional ice hockey player | |
| Travis S. Taylor | Researcher and science fiction author | [40] | |
| Cameron Talbot | 2010 | National Hockey League goaltender (New York Rangers,Edmonton Oilers,Calgary Flames,Minnesota Wild) | |
| Violet Edwards | 2014 | First Black woman elected to theMadison County Commission | [41] |
| Destin Sandlin | 2003, present | AmericanYouTube personality | |
| James Lomax | 2017 | member of the Alabama House of Representatives | |
| JJ Kaplan | 2021 | American-Israeli basketball player in theIsraeli Basketball Premier League |
| Name | Department | Notability | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mustafa A.G. Abushagur | Electrical and Computer Engineering | Founding president ofRIT Dubai and the interim Deputy Prime Minister ofLibya | [42][43][44] |
| John Christy | Atmospheric Science | Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science and director of the Earth System Science Center | [45] |
| T. J. Chung | Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering | Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering | [46] |
| Lawrence J. DeLucas | Materials Science | STS-50 | [47] |
| H. E. Francis | English | Fulbright professor | [48] |
| Michael D. Griffin | Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering | 11th Administrator of theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration, eminent scholar and professor | |
| Owen Garriott | Biological Sciences | Skylab 3,STS-9, and adjunct professor in the Laboratory for Structural Biology after his NASA career | [49] |
| Roy Spencer | Atmospheric Science | Winner ofAmerican Meteorological Society Special Award andNASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (both with John Christy) | [50][51] |
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