A 1968 graduate of the Medical College of Alabama (now UAB Heersink School of Medicine), Linn began his career in the UAB Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology. However, his greatest impact came through his pioneering work in medical communication at UAB and UAB Health System.
From 1980 to 2009, Linn served as director of UAB’s medical publications, transforming how the institution communicated with both medical professionals and the public. Under his leadership, UAB Insight, UAB Synopsis, UAB Magazine, and the widely read “Dear Doctors” column in The Birmingham News became models of clear, accessible medical journalism.
Linn’s commitment to rigorous oversight of medical research was equally significant. He served 22 years on UAB’s Institutional Review Board, including as vice president, helping ensure the ethical conduct of human research studies until his retirement in 2020.
Beyond medicine, Linn was a devoted historian and cultural preservationist. He edited numerous books on Birmingham history, and his work on “Art of the New South: Women Artists of Birmingham, 1890-1950” honored his aunt, artist Carrie Hill, who helped establish what became the Birmingham Museum of Art.
His community leadership spanned decades of service to Birmingham’s cultural institutions including Opera Birmingham, Arlington Antebellum Home, the Birmingham Music Cooperative, and First United Methodist Church Birmingham.
Pam Powell, a former editor of UAB Magazine, worked closely with Dr. Linn for many years, and says that his role in promoting the medical school and overall institution cannot be overstated.
“Dr. Linn was not only a brilliant medical professional, but also a deeply thoughtful, gentle, kind human being who always went out of his way to be helpful whenever we needed his scientific expertise or his extraordinary knowledge of the history of UAB. He worked at the very heart of UAB’s evolution into a major university and knew all the “fathers” of the institution, including Joseph F. Volker, Charles “Scotty” McCallum, S. Richardson Hill, and others,” she recalls. “What a privilege to know and work with him!”
Linn’s legacy lives in the countless medical professionals he informed through clear, ethical communication, the historical record he helped preserve, and the cultural institutions he strengthened through decades of dedicated service.