University of Alabama at Birmingham

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Founded in 1969 in the University of Alabama System, UAB has grown to be the state's largest single employer, with more than 24,200 faculty and staff and over 53,000 jobs at the university and in the health system. The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". UAB offers 140 programs of study in 12 academic divisions leading to bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degrees in the liberal arts, humanities, mathematics, social, behavioral, natural and physical sciences, business, education, engineering, and health-related fields such as medicine, dentistry, optometry, nursing, and public health. In the fall of 2020, 22,563 students from more than 110 countries were enrolled. The UAB Health System, one of the largest academic medical centers in the United States, is affiliated with the university. UAB Hospital sponsors residency programs in medical specialties, including internal medicine, neurology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, surgery, radiology, and anesthesiology. History In 1936, in response to the rapid growth of the Birmingham metropolitan area and the need for the population to have access to a university education, the University of Alabama established the Birmingham Extension Center. The center operated in an old house in downtown Birmingham at 2131 6th Avenue North and enrolled 116 students. In 1945, UA's newly established four-year School of Medicine moved from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham and took over management of Jefferson and Hillman hospitals. In 1957 enrollment at the extension center stood at 1,856. By 1959, research grants, training grants, and fellowships exceeded $1 million, and ground was broken for a new Children's Hospital.