TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Adam Townes of Hueytown conducted research at The University of Alabama as a member of the 2005 McNair Scholars class.

Townes, a senior history major at UA, conducted his research with UA faculty mentor Dr. Maarten Ultee in the department of history during the summer of 2004. Townes presented his McNair research at undergraduate conferences at Penn State University and UA as well as research entitled “Slash, Poison and Burn, 1890-2000: Is Breast Cancer Curable?” at the Southern Association for the History of Medicine and Science in Augusta, Ga. He also co-authored a research report for the UA McNair Journal on “Historical Perceptions of the Curability of Breast Cancer.”

Townes plans on graduating in August and he will pursue graduate studies in library science at UA.

Among Townes’ honors and achievements, he has been on the UA Dean’s List, is a member of Gamma Beta Phi honor society, and has been recognized as an Outstanding Scholar by the Black Faculty and Staff Association at the University.

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.