60th Anniversary Timeline: 1980s
Posted on December 13, 2023 by USA Marketing and Communications
1980s: Research and Innovation
South’s first patent comes in 1983, for a mechanical torque converter invented by Dr. Eugene Odell, professor of mechanical engineering. Seven more patents follow in the 1980s; the total now stands at 108. Dr. June Ayling and Dr. Steven Bailey of the College of Medicine’s Department of Pharmacology collaborate on 11 of them, which generate millions of dollars in revenue for the University. Many of their patents involve ways of formulating and administering folates — B vitamins that can decrease the risk of birth defects, cognitive decline, cardiovascular disease and other disorders.
1980
JOHN A. COUNTS SR., standing far right, becomes the first South alumnus to join the Board of Trustees. He serves until his death in 1995.
Computers on the Rise
South creates a Department of Computer Science, with about 300 student majors enrolled.
1983
Where Babies Come From
South establishes Children’s & Women’s Hospital within University Hospital and later purchases Doctors Hospital, its current location. Today, USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital delivers more babies annually than any other hospital in Mobile. Its Hollis J. Wiseman Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is the region’s only Level III neonatal intensive care unit. And the Arlene Mitchell Pediatric Intensive Care Unit is the only facility of its kind in the region.
1984
Crossing the Bay
Trustees officially establish the University of South Alabama Baldwin Campus in Fairhope, expanding the University to the east side of Mobile Bay. Academic programs today include the College of Nursing’s accelerated nursing program, which allows students to earn a bachelor’s degree in as little as a year.
1986
All-Star
BASEBALL OUTFIELDER Luis Gonzalez achieves Freshman All-American honors. Of the 28 Jaguars who reach baseball’s major leagues, Gonzalez, a five-time All-Star, becomes the best. Other star sports alums include baseball’s Lance Johnson, David Freese, Jon Lieber, Juan Pierre, Adam Lind and Brendan Donovan; basketball’s Terry Catledge; football’s Jeremy Reaves and Gerald Everett; soccer’s Jemma Purfield; track and field’s Muizat Ajoke Odumosu; and golf’s Heath Slocum.
1987
Greek Row
Fraternities and sororities get the OK to create what becomes Greek Row on campus. Four fraternities and five sororities build houses there. Fraternities had previously set up houses off campus and at Brookley Center.
1989
Down and Dirty
Oozeball debuts in all its squishy, gooey glory. The annual student mud volleyball tournament, still going strong, raises scholarship money for the Southerners student ambassador program.
