USA Honors Turning 50 With Celebration This Evening

May 3, 2013 · By · Filed Under News 

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It was 50 years ago today that the University of South Alabama was founded. This evening the University will mark the momentous occasion.

As well as celebrating the school, they will also pay tribute to President Gordon Moulton, whose career spans most of that period. He has overseen the phenomenal growth of the university during his 15 years as president.

The celebration will begin at 6:30pm at The Mitchell Center and will feature food and music. They will also have memories of the University’s early ears, recognition of faculty and their teaching, research, scholarly activity and creative works. They will also have a video presentation of USA’s first half-century.

Each person who attends will be given a copy of a new book that features nearly 200 pages of historic and modern photographs as well as first-hand accounts of the University’s beginnings and it’s growth.

Also in attendance will be Alabama Governor Robert Bentley with several other local, state and federal leaders who will speak.

The event is free and open to the public. The dress is business casual.

When USA was established there was no other public, four-year degree granting institution in the region. Civic and business leaders recognized the importance of a university to the region’s success and pushed for it’s creation.

The single-building campus in west Mobile quickly expanded, established a medical school and is recognized today as a vibrant, competitive teaching and research institution.

Over it’s 50 years it has awarded 75,000 degrees; 15,000 currently enrolled students; 250,000 patients treated annually; 5,500 employees; $400 million in annual payroll, one of the area’s largest; $2 billion in economic impact each year.

Gordon Moulton arrived at the University when it was only three years old as he joined the business faculty in 1966. He has served as director of the USA computer center, founding dean of the School of Computer and Information Sciences (now named the School of Computing) and vice president for services and planning.

Then, most notably, he was selected as the University’s second president in 1998.

He led the development of the USA Mitchell Cancer Institute, the largest research endeavor in the school’s history. The USA Health System which consists of the USA College of Medicine, physician practice, USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital, the USA Medical Center.

He also led the creation of the USA Research and Technology Park which is now home to 16 technology based firms and 600 private sector employees.

He has also led the construction of multiple new facilities on campus including Shelby Hall, Meisler Hall, a new Student Center, and the Football Fieldhouse when the University began a NCAA football program and marching band program.

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