What is your name and current title with the University of Montevallo?
My name is Brett Noerager. I am a professor of biology and chair of the Department of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science.
Where are you from and what city do you currently reside in?
I am originally from Houston, Texas. I moved to Birmingham in 1996 to attend graduate school at The University of Alabama at Birmingham, and currently live in Homewood.
If you hold any degrees, what are they in and from what schools?
I received my B.S. degree in animal physiology and neuroscience with a minor in history from the University of California at San Diego in 1993 and my Ph.D. in physiology and biophysics from UAB in 2002. I took three years off between undergrad and graduate school to work as a research technician in the Division of Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.
How long have you worked here?
This is my 18th year at the University of Montevallo.
Did you hold any previous positions here? If so, what are they?
I started at UM as an assistant professor of biology in 2007. In 2012, I was promoted to associate professor and was promoted to full professor in 2019. I have been department chair since June 2021.
What brought you to Montevallo?
I was completing a post-doctoral research fellowship at UAB and had been doing some adjunct teaching at both UAB and Birmingham-Southern College. I really enjoyed being in the classroom and interacting with students. The lab manager for the lab I was working in at the time apparently wasn’t very happy in her job because she was always checking job openings on the Chronicle of Higher Education website. She was the first to tell me about the opening for an A&P professor at Montevallo. I applied, interviewed (on my birthday!) and got the job.
What’s the best thing about working for Montevallo?
Getting to know the students and helping them achieve their goals.
Do you have any interesting stories about one of your favorite experiences here?
I have a lot of good memories of the annual Run for Research benefitting the Undergraduate Research Program at UM. I have particularly fond memories of the costume division of the run (and walk) and can still picture Dr. Clark Hultquist professor of history, with a model of the Eiffel Tower on his head and Dr. Cindy Tidwell, professor of chemistry, in full lab safety gear, including goggles and lab coat. One year, the temperature must have been 90 degrees, and a student ran in a foam Gumby costume — I was afraid we were going to have a case of heat stroke on our hands!
What’s your proudest accomplishment since being at UM?
I am most proud of taking home the oar after the 2012 UM Life Raft Debate. That was a fun night!
Why do you belong at Montevallo?
I belong at Montevallo because it has become my home, my family.
Anything else you want to say?
Reflecting on my time here at Montevallo, the words of Ted Lasso come to mind. “I feel like I fell out of the lucky tree, hit every branch on the way down, and landed in a pool of cash and Sour Patch Kids.”
