University of Alabama students (L-R) Cody Locke of Boaz, Abigail Smith of Tuscaloosa, Robert Davis of Montgomery and Kristin Robinson of Birmingham were named to USA Today's All-USA College Academic Team for 2004.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Four students from The University of Alabama have been named to this year’s USA Today All-USA College Academic Team. UA came in second only to Harvard, which had five team members, and tied Northwestern at four in total number of students on the prestigious team.

Last year, five UA students were chosen for the 2003 team, the most of any school. UA’s combined two-year total of nine leads the nation. Harvard had eight team members over the two-year period and Johns Hopkins had six.

A total of 82 students nationwide were selected for this year’s team; 83 students were named to the 2003 team.

Named to the Second Team were Cody Locke, a sophomore biology major from Boaz, who hopes to become a molecular and cellular biology professor, and Abigail Smith, a junior speech communication major from Tuscaloosa who hopes to practice civil rights law. Robert Davis, a senior aerospace engineering major from Montgomery, who hopes to be a NASA engineer, was named to the Third Team, and Kristin Robinson, a senior social work major from Birmingham, received Honorable Mention. Robinson plans to be a social worker.

Students selected for this annual “best of the best” list are chosen for their grades, awards and activities, leadership roles and their ability to use their academic skills outside the classroom. Since 1991, The University of Alabama has placed 26 students on the list.

Auburn University had two honorable mentions on this year’s team and the University of Alabama at Birmingham had one honorable mention.

Cody Locke, USA Today All-USA College Academic Second Team member
Hometown: Boaz, Ala.
Major: Biology
Career Goal: Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology

Although only a college sophomore, Cody Locke has already established himself as a successful and talented researcher in the field of cellular biology. Locke conducts research on the molecular basis of epilepsy in the lab of UA biology professors Guy and Kim Caldwell.

Locke is a co-author of research presented recently at the 43rd annual meeting of the American Society of Cell Biology and selected as one of only 15 works, chosen from more than 1,300 abstracts, to be highlighted in the 2003 American Society of Cell Biology Press Book. He is also co-author of research presented at the 14th Biennial International C. elegans Research Conference and of two articles that have been submitted for publication in scientific journals.

In 2003, Locke was one of four students nationwide selected to receive the Benjamin Cummings Biology Prize, a $1,000 scholarship awarded annually by the Benjamin Cummings Co., a division of Pearson Education and Addison-Wesley that publishes general biology textbooks. He is also the recipient of a National Society of Collegiate Scholars Merit Award, a national scholarship given to 50 new members of this honor society each year. Locke was the only recipient selected from UA for 2003-2004.

A student in UA’s innovative Computer Based Honors Program, Locke has successfully combined his biological research with his expertise in computer science. In nominating Locke for the USA Today award, Dr. Guy Caldwell wrote, “As part of his Computer Based Honors project, Cody has initiated a study that represents an elegant link between his talents in computer science with those in experimental molecular biology. Cody is already utilizing genetic database information from the human genome project to design and build a bioinformatics database integrating these Internet-based computational resources directly with laboratory experiments involving an exciting new method for genetic analysis called RNA interference (RNAi).

“I view Cody Locke with awe for the maturity and resolve he bestows at such an early stage in his academic career – and life,” Caldwell wrote.

In addition to his research endeavors, Locke is the creator and editor of the online version of the Journal of Science & Health at The University of Alabama (JOSHUA) and an editor of the print version of the journal. The interdisciplinary journal publishes student research in the areas of science and health, societal or ethical implications of such research, and emerging technologies.

Active in a number of campus organizations, Locke serves as webmaster for Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society and as publicity committee chair for the UA chapter of the national sophomore honor society Lambda Sigma. He is a member of the Honors Program Student Association and served as one of 50 freshmen on UA’s Freshman Forum in 2002-2003. As an incoming freshman, Locke spent a week doing community service work as part of Alabama Action, a service learning experience for freshmen in the University Honors Program. He has also volunteered his time to participate in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life and a canned food drive for West Alabama Food Bank.

A first generation college student, Locke is the son of Mickey and Patsy Locke of Boaz.

top of page

Abigail Smith, USA Today All-USA College Academic Second Team member
Hometown: Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Major: Speech Communication
Career Goal: Civil Rights Law

Abigail Smith is an accomplished debater, an advocate for social justice and a founding member of a multicultural sorority at UA.

Smith overcame numerous obstacles, including dropping out of high school, to pursue her college education. A debater at Contra Costa Community College in California, she was recruited to UA to join the debate team by UA debate coach Edward Lee.

“(Smith) has taken her skills and talents achieved through debate and used them to become a valuable and vocal participant in the struggle for equality and justice. . . . Her dedication to simultaneously improving herself and her community can be seen in her demand that we first and foremost locate our ethical position in the world and then act,” Lee wrote in nominating Smith for the USA Today award.

As a member of the McNair Scholars Program, which provides undergraduate students the opportunity to participate in research experiences, Smith conducted research on a triple-lynching that occurred in Tuscaloosa in 1933 and explored the historical and cultural implications of that incident in a paper that has been submitted for publication.

Smith has served as president of the Student Coalition Against Racism at UA and is a founding member of the UA chapter of Delta Xi Phi Multicultural Sorority. “Abi was one of a small cohort of students who worked closely with Student Affairs on the smart idea of establishing an explicitly multicultural and multiracial sorority,” wrote Dr. James C. Hall, director of UA’s New College, in nominating Smith. He credited Smith’s “mature and thoughtful leadership” with the success of the new sorority.

Smith’s honors include UA’s prestigious Penny Allen Award, given annually to one student and one faculty member who have demonstrated unselfish service and commitment to students, through their service and/or leadership endeavors, and the 2002 College of Communication and Information Sciences Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement in the Sophomore Class. She also received the 2003 Delta Xi Phi Multicultural Sorority, Inc., Award for Achievement in Advancing Multiculturalism, a national award given annually by the sorority.

Smith is a native of California, who now calls Tuscaloosa home. She is the daughter of Laura Lee and Mark Lee Smith of Grover Beach, Calif.

top of page

Rob Davis, USA Today All-USA College Academic Third Team member
Hometown: Montgomery, Ala.
Major: Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics
Career Goal: NASA Engineer

During his time at the Capstone, Davis has been very involved in the University’s honors programs and has received many awards and honors, among them: National Collegiate Honors Council Portz Scholar, 2003, one of three scholars awarded annually and the first recipient in UA history; Blount Presidential Scholar, 1999, one of the University’s most prestigious academic scholarships; First Place in the annual University of Alabama System Honors Research Day, 2002 and 2003; and the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award, 2002.

Davis, a member of the University Honors Program and the Computer Based Honors Program, has been the principal author of four papers researching the performance of projectiles for the U.S. Air Force based on work done at UA with Dr. Stanley Jones, Cudworth Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics. His papers have been published in the Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science and have been presented at national and international conferences.

Taking a step in reaching his long-term goal of becoming a NASA engineer, Davis was selected to participate in this past summer’s NASA Undergraduate Student Research Program at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. He was one of about 30 undergraduate students selected from more than 300 applicants for the intense 10-week research program.

Davis has held leadership roles in many campus organizations, including serving as the secretary-general of the Alabama Model United Nations; the former president and vice-president of the Mallet Assembly Men’s Honors Residence Program; the founding president of the Student Coalition Against Racism, an organization founded in 2001 that now boasts more than 100 members; a candidate for Student Government Association president representing the Independent Voters’ Association; a fellow of the Blackburn Institute; and a member of the Anderson Society, UA’s most selective honor society that initiates just 24 members annually. He is also active in Tau Beta Pi, the National Engineering Honor Society, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

“His work is excellent and has helped the U.S. Air Force understand an important design obstacle in the development of air launched hard target weapons. You could not find a more deserving nominee for this award,” said Jones in a letter nominating Davis.

Davis is the son of Ted and Joetta Davis of Montgomery.

top of page

Kristin Robinson, USA Today All-USA College Academic Honorable Mention
Hometown: Birmingham, Ala.
Major: Social Work
Career Goal: Social Worker
  
A member of the UA Honors Program, Kristin Robinson holds a perfect 4.0 grade point average in social work. She has been involved in many programs at the University including the Avanti Orientation Team, the Anderson Society honorary, Elliott Society service honorary, and Phi Alpha social work honor society. She was the 2003 recipient of the John Fraser Ramsey Award, one of UA’s four “Premier Awards,” honoring a student “with broad humanistic interests who has exerted a positive influence on his or her contemporaries.”

In 2002, Robinson saw a need for a support system for foster children and families, so she created Tuscaloosa Foster Friends, which provides time off for parents and college-age friends for the children.  Foster Friends meets in conjunction with the local Foster Parent Association one evening a month. While the parents work with Department of Human Resources administrators, Robinson and her volunteers mentor their children through activities such as reading and playing with toys.

“The relationships established by Foster Friends between foster children and college-age mentors not only support vulnerable children in difficult times, but also create concerned and socially aware volunteers committed to serving the needs of their society,” said Robinson.

“She has setup a solid program which will continue to thrive and grow, and which provides a unique service to a most worthy group of children and adults in the community,” said Dr. Ginny Raymond, director of the Bachelor of Social Work program, in a letter nominating Robinson.

Robinson also founded the student organization Bama Pro-Life which focuses on educating the members about prenatal development, the effects of abortion, a mother’s experience during pregnancy and more.

Her community work has also included Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Head Start program, and the YMCA soccer program. Last summer, she also spent a week overseas serving as a counselor at a camp for underprivileged children in England.

In 2003, Robinson received the McWane Foundation Research Fellowship to begin funding her research on social worker burnout. Just two of these UA fellowships are given each year for undergraduate research.

“We have come to expect significant accomplishments from Kristin, and being honorably mentioned to this prestigious All-USA Team is no exception,” said Dr. Ike Adams, dean of the School of Social Work. “She is highly intelligent and well-grounded in the values of the social work profession and I expect that she will continue to bring honor to herself, her family and The University of Alabama School of Social Work.”

Robinson is the daughter of Dodie and Chuck Robinson of Birmingham.

top of page