Tribute to a Colleague

A good friend, great teacher, and a wonderful colleague passed away on her 55th birthday in October. Becky Trigg was a Teaching Assistant Professor in my department. Below is the obituary written by the Chair of my department.

Becky Marie Trigg died on her 55th birthday, Oct. 28, 2010, surrounded by friends and family. Becky was loved and respected by many for her honesty and courage, her faithfulness to friends and family, and her dedication to the profession of sociology through the scholarship of teaching. Becky was an outstanding scholar... who received numerous awards for her teaching and mentoring of students, including the Dean's Career Award for Outstanding Teaching from the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Teaching for her was not just about preparing and delivering good lectures or utilizing cutting edge methodologies and technologies for her classes. Teaching and mentoring students was life work for her, a vocation. We will sorely miss her.

Here are a few of my own reflections on Becky...
I remember when I came to UAB for my interview. Becky, Jeff Hall, and some grad students took me out to lunch at Sabor Latino (one of Becky’s favorite places she told me). During this lunch, she wasn’t interested in how many grants I had gotten or what grants I might get in the future. She was very direct in her questioning of me. She wanted to know what undergraduate courses I could teach; and, whether I could teach undergrad social psychology and symbolic interactionism. She said that the undergrads here at UAB needed these courses and she wanted to find someone who could teach them. I respected her a great deal for her commitment to undergraduates at UAB. She always put them first, in trying to think about ways to enhance the department and the university.


Becky was always someone you could go to if you had a class-related issue. I can’t tell you the number of times that I dropped by her office or emailed her to ask her about some issue I was having with getting a student registered for an independent study, setting up my Blackboard and WebCT materials, or some other course-related issue. She immediately knew just how to resolve the problem or perhaps more importantly WHO TO CALL OR EMAIL to get the issue resolved. She was a resource that I knew I could always turn to. I’m not sure we have someone who can fill those shoes in this area…

The last thing I want to mention (though I could mention many more) is Becky’s desire to help those students who were disadvantaged in some way. I remember many early morning conversations with Becky about particular students. We would often arrive around 7:30 or so – well before many other faculty members came into the dept. Becky would note how some students had come from lower SES backgrounds, didn’t have family members who had gone to college, were not as polished as other students, and lacked the social and cultural capital that many other students had who came from higher SES backgrounds. She talked about how it was up to us to mentor these students to help them succeed. Becky and I were definitely on the same page in this area, as I to came from such a background. She continued to encourage me to help ‘polish’ certain students and to believe in them, even when students’ actions at times made that hard to do. She was always a strong advocate for students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. And, her belief in these students helped many of them achieve great things; it has also helped me to be a better faculty member.

You are already missed Becky. I hope that your spirit continues to guide our department as we strive to move forward.

Memorial Service Friday, November 12, 4:00 Heritage Hall 102, UAB Campus.


Donations can be made to the Dr. Mike Wilson and Professor Becky Trigg Support Fund. All proceeds from the support fund will benefit the UAB Women's Studies Program. You can direct donations to the attention of Mary Balfour VanZandt:
College of Arts and Sciences Development Office
HB 302
1530 3rd Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35294-1260
975-9644