TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Abigail Smith of Grover Beach, Calif., conducted research at The University of Alabama as a member of the 2005 McNair Scholars class.

Smith, a recent graduate of UA, conducted her research with UA faculty mentors Dr. Amilcar Shabazz in the department of American studies and Dr. Jim Hall of the New College Program. Her research was recently featured as a report entitled “Southern Mob Violence: A Triple Lynching in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 1933” in the 2005 edition of the UA McNair Scholars Journal. She also presented her research at undergraduate conferences at Penn State University and UA.

Along with being honored at UA as a member of the 2003 USA Today Academic All-American Team, she was the SEC Debater of the Year in 2004 and 2005. Her future plans include attending graduate school at Georgia State University in the fall.

The McNair Scholars Program is named after Dr. Ronald E. McNair, a first-generation college student who earned a doctorate in physics at MIT. Later, as an astronaut, he became the second African-American in space. He was among those who died in the 1986 Challenger accident. Honoring his legacy, McNair Scholars is a prestigious scholarship and research program that helps prepare accomplished undergraduates for graduate study. A U.S. Department of Education TRIO program, McNair Scholars targets first-generation college students and those from other groups underrepresented in doctoral programs.