UAB accepted an invitation to join the Association of American Universities, the first Alabama school in the research group. Its research spending is now over $915 million.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham is joining the Association of American Universities. It is the first university in Alabama to be a member of the group of leading research universities.
UAB said Thursday that it had accepted the invitation, in its announcement. Georgetown University was invited at the same time. The two bring the AAU to 73 members in the United States and Canada, UAB said.
Why it matters
Membership is by invitation. UAB said the association judges universities on a broad set of measures of the quality of their research and teaching. The AAU last added members in 2023.
“Being asked to join the AAU is an honor that recognizes the great work and results driven by UAB’s talented faculty and staff,” UAB President Ray L. Watts said.
AAU President Barbara R. Snyder said the association is “proud to welcome these two outstanding universities.”
UAB by the numbers
UAB gave these figures in its announcement:
- Research spending: more than $915 million a year, up from $379 million when Watts became president in 2013
- Jobs: more than 37,000 employees across the university and its Health System, which makes UAB the largest employer in Alabama
- Hospitals: 15 in the UAB Health System
- Degrees: more than 180 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, professional and online programs
- Freshmen: the largest freshman class in its history, two years running
Four UAB schools rank high nationally for National Institutes of Health funding, UAB said, citing the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research:
| School | NIH funding rank |
|---|---|
| School of Health Professions | No. 9 |
| School of Nursing | No. 11 |
| School of Dentistry | No. 15 |
| Heersink School of Medicine | No. 28 |
Who else is in the AAU
UAB named these other members in the Southeast:
- Duke University
- Emory University
- University of Florida
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- University of Miami
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of South Florida
- Tulane University
- Vanderbilt University
- University of Virginia
The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and Auburn University are not members. The AAU keeps its own list of members by year of entry.
What it means for you
- If you work at UAB: you are one of more than 37,000 people at Alabama’s largest employer, which now sits in the same research group as Duke, Emory and Vanderbilt.
- If you have a student choosing a college: an in-state public university in Birmingham is now an AAU member.
- If you are a patient: the research counted toward the invitation is largely medical. UAB says its schools of health professions, nursing, dentistry and medicine all rank in the top 30 for NIH funding.
UAB’s campus sits on the Southside, just south of downtown. For more about the city’s schools and colleges, see our moving to Birmingham guide.
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