Lorenda Ward, NTSB Puzzle-Solver pg. 30 HOT JOB
Ryan Russell strengthens mind and body pg. 26 SPORTS
Don’t let the bedbugs bite pg. 18 RESEARCH FALL 2013
The Long, Strange Trip of Brenton Johnson
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Night lights The Andean city of Quito, Ecuador, is one of the world’s most highland capitals, overlooked day and night by El Panesillo and its statue of the Virgin Mary almost 10,000 feet above sea level. Auburn photographer Jeff Etheridge captured this shot as he accompanied AU nursing and building science students on a service trip to Quito this spring. (See related story on Page 44 of this issue.)
Family reunion Even the 2010 national championiship crowds paled beside the outpouring of more than 80,000 Auburn family members who flocked to Toomer’s Corner on April 20 for the last roll of the oaks. A staff member of AU Photographic Services braved a low-flying plane ride to capture this eagle’s-eye view.
F A L L
2 0 1 3
From the Editor
Doors close, windows open SUZANNE JOHNSON Editor, Auburn Magazine
Brenton Johnson ’97, on the other hand, encountered his stumbling block in the form of the incomparable guilt only a beloved grandmother can impart. There was probably no one who knew Johnson at Auburn who would have expected him to go into a buttoned-down occupation. He had long hair, a beard, tagged along after the Grateful Dead, and sold cheese sandwiches off an old Coleman grill to make money and put gas in his old VW. With a degree in agricultural engineering, he planned to pursue his dream of a small farm where he could live on the land and make a difference in his community. Mama Nell pointed out, as grandmothers will, that his family had worked hard to put him through college, and surely an engineer such as himself could find steadier employment than as a hippie farm worker. So he went to work for the government as a water-resource manager. Ten years later, Johnson rediscovered both his childhood sweetheart and his love of the land. His backyard garden turned first into a small business, then a big one. In 2008, he quit his job to farm full-time and now has one of the largest CSA farms in the South. The common ground? Ward and Johnson never let go of their dreams—they simply found an open window through which they could soar.
AUBURN MAGAZINE (ISSN 1077–8640) is published quarterly; 4X per year; spring, summer, fall, winter, for dues-paying members of the Auburn Alumni Association. Periodicals-class postage paid in Auburn and additional mailing offices. Editorial offices are located in the Auburn Alumni Center, 317 South College St., Auburn University, AL 368495149. Phone 334-844–1164. Fax 334-844–1477. Email: aubmag@auburn.edu. Contents ©2013 by the Auburn Alumni Association, all rights reserved.
LETTERS Auburn Magazine welcomes readers’ comments, but reserves the right to edit letters or to refuse publication of letters judged libelous or distasteful. Space availability may prevent publication of all letters in the magazine, in which case, letters not printed will be available on the alumni association website at the address listed below. No writer is eligible for publication more often than once every two issues. No anonymous letters will be printed. Auburn Magazine is available in alternative formats for persons with disabilities. For information, call 334-844–1164. Auburn Magazine is a benefit of membership in the Auburn Alumni Association and is not available by individual subscription. Back issues may be found online at www.aualum.org/magazine. To join the association, call 334844–2586 or visit our website at www.aualum.org.
POSTMASTER Send address changes to AU Records, 317 South College St., Auburn, AL 36849–5149.
4
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Shannon Bryant-Hankes ’84
You might not know who first said it, but you’ve likely heard the old saying that when one door closes, a window opens. The original quote is attributed to Alexander Graham Bell (who would likely be agog at where his newfangled telephone invention has gone in the last decade or so). “When one door closes, another opens,” he said. “But we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” We all grow up with dreams and passions but it is a precious few who encounter no rough spots along the way. Sometimes the dreams get buried under the weight of life’s obligations. Sometimes they prove to be childish dreams that aren’t quite as appealing at 30 as they were at 13. Sometimes, when we run across roadblocks to our dreams, we end up taking detours that eventually lead us back or take us somewhere altogether new. Two of the Auburn University alumni featured in this issue came across those stumbling blocks and found a new path. Lorenda Ward ’90 grew up with a passion for airplanes and space travel. She dreamed of being an astronaut, of viewing Earth from far above. Maybe even of setting foot on the moon or Mars. Ward’s roadblock came in the form of motion sickness. Her mind was ready to fly. Her body? Not so much. She persisted through training, but recognized an open window: the opportunity to work for the National Transportation Safety Board. Now, as a senior investigator with the NTSB, Ward indulges her passion for planes while also making flight safer.
ADVERTISING INFORMATION Contact Jessica King at 334-844– 2586 or see our media guide at www.aualum.org/magazine.
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
EDITOR
Suzanne Johnson
suzannejohnson@auburn.edu
ART DIRECTOR
Audrey Matthews ’12 WEBMASTER
Dylan Parker UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPHER
Jeff Etheridge EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS
Bradley Roberts ’13 Summer Austin ’13 DESIGN ASSISTANT
Regina Roberson ’13 PRESIDENT, AUBURN UNIVERSITY
Jay Gogue ’69 VICE PRESIDENT FOR ALUMNI AFFAIRS AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AUBURN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Deborah L. Shaw ’84 PRESIDENT, AUBURN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Bill Stone ’85 AUBURN MAGAZINE ADVISORY COUNCIL CHAIR
Neal Reynolds ’77 AUBURN MAGAZINE ADVISORY COUNCIL
Maria Baugh ’87 John Carvalho ’78 Jon Cole ’88 Christian Flathman ’97 Tom Ford ’67 Kay Fuston ’84 Julie Keith ’90 Mary Lou Foy ’66 Eric Ludgood ’78 Cindy McDaniel ’80 Napo Monasterio ’02 Carol Pappas ’77
Joyce Reynolds Ringer ’59 Allen Vaughan ’75
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On the cover After turning a backyard garden into a veggie empire, Brenton Johnson is changing the way Austin eats. Photo by Tommy Lavergne.
Fall 2013 F R O N T 4 From the Editor
Transforming lives, in Auburn and around the world. 10 College Street
Raymond Harbert ’82 ushers in a new era in business education at Auburn. Also: Four departments grow up to become schools, and odds and ends from the era of Gettysburg in its sesquicentennial year.
What football players do all year round.
26 Tiger Walk
Strength and conditioning coach Ryan Russell keeps the Tigers in shape, mentally and physically. Also: a new SEC network and a new baseball coach. B A C K 49 Alumni Center
Tents and tailgates: it must be fall! And a’one and a’two...Clarinet practice in the round.
16 Research
A bedbug tale that will give you insomnia (hint: suitcases go in the bathtub). Also: adaptive fitness and historic growth rings. 20 Roundup
What’s happening in your college? Check it out.
Wearing the signature hat worn by many women of the region, this Quichua native of Quito, Ecuador, is one of hundreds receiving a rare checkup from one of the nursing students and faculty who spend their spring breaks in the Andean capital each year.
F E A T U R E S
30
22 Concourse
Through a minor in community and civic engagement, Auburn students learn to be citizens of the world. Also: distance learning.
Clearing the Air
As an aviation investigator for the National Transportation and Safety Board, Lorenda Ward’s job is to ferret out clues from crash sites, twisted bits of metal and data recorders, all with the goal of safer air travel. by clay omainsky photograhy by jeff etheridge
36
From Brokedown Palace to JBG
It’s been a long, strange trip for Brenton Johnson as he segued from Deadhead to waterresource specialist. Then he took a left turn into farming and transformed a backyard garden into one of the South’s largest community-supported agriculture farms. by robyn ross photograhy by tommy lavergne
44
52 Class Notes 56 In Memoriam 64 The Last Word
Alumna Susan May doesn’t worry about aging. She knows the perfect way to dip into the “Fountain of Youth”—by making a pilgrimage to the Plains.
Life, No Fences
In Quito, a city where children are often tied inside their homes to keep them safe while their parents work, Auburn building science and nursing students break down the barriers. by summer austin photography by jeff etheridge
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
7
U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Aaron Allmon II
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C OLLEGE
OF
BUSINESS
E x ecu tiv e M B A P r ogr a ms business.auburn.edu
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
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C A M P U S
N E W S
COLLEGE STREET
The power of transformation Universities are thought of as timeless, classical and traditionfilled, and those descriptions are accurate. But a healthy university also has a dynamic energy, a nimbleness of thought and response to the world around it in order to remain relevant to the students it educates. Outright transformation? That takes a synergy of vision and resources. Thanks to one alumnus and the input of a whole host of visionaries, that kind of transformation is coming to Auburn University’s College of Business. First, some reintroductions are in order. In the wake of the largest gift in the university’s history, the college will now be known as the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business—a move made possible by a $40 million commitment from Harbert, a 1982 alumnus and member of the Auburn University Board of
10
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
Trustees. Harbert serves as chairman and CEO of Harbert Management Corp., a Birmingham-based independent investment firm. Auburn’s board approved the naming of the college on June 21. It’s Harbert’s way of giving back. “I am interested in helping the university become the best it can be. One of the critical elements to making that happen is capital. I have been blessed with success in my business endeavors, which allows me to make that capital available as an investment in the College of Business’ future. To say it a different way, ‘To whom much is given, much is required.’” Among the planned initiatives: additional eminent-scholar and endowed chairs to recruit and retain top faculty members; a Harbert Investments Center, focused on securities and wealth creation, and a supply chain management institute; a new doctoral program in finance; and enhanced facilities. Harbert Management Corp. manages $3 billion-plus in assets and attracts investors from such sources as high-net-worth individuals, financial institutions, pensions and foundations. In addition to its investment teams in eight U.S. cities, including New York and Chicago, the firm’s global footprint encompasses London, Paris, Hong Kong, Madrid and Melbourne. After graduating from Auburn with a degree in industrial management, Harbert began his career with Harbert International Inc., a subsidiary of Harbert Corp. He served as vice president of business development before becoming president of the corporation’s real estate subsidiary, Harbert Properties Corp. In 1988, he was elected vice president of Harbert Corp. and managed the company’s investment portfolio. In 1990, Harbert gained oversight of the rest of the firm after being elected president and chief executive officer of Harbert Corp. He earned Ernst & Young’s regional Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Financial Services in 2006. A portion of Harbert’s commitment includes a $15 million matching gift—challenging other graduates and friends of the College of Business to help it build momentum. Three business graduates were among the donors who answered with “challenge match” gifts of $1 million or more. Kerry Bradley ’79 and Laura Bradley, Robert M. Broadway Jr. ’91 and Julie Broadway, and David Luck ’71 and Terri Lynn Luck each made commitments in support of endowed and eminent-scholar chairs. Bradley, a Lake Martin resident who earned a marketing degree and retired as president of Luxottica Retail, serves as the college’s campaign chair, and as a member of its Advisory Council. Robert M. Broadway, a Huntsville resident and CEO of The Broadway Group, earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and an MBA from the college. Julie Broadway, owner of Broadway Gymnastics in Huntsville, is currently pursuing degrees in psychology and family development from Auburn. Luck, a Woodstock, Ill., resident who earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and serves as CEO of ABC Supply Co. in Beloit, Wisc., is also a member of the college’s Advisory Council.
S T R E E T
AUBURN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
C O L L E G E
Flashback 100 years ago
75 years ago
50 years ago
25 years ago
10 years ago
Fall 1913
Fall 1938
Fall 1963
Fall 1988
Fall 2003
The Orange and Blue, the newspaper of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, converted to a weekly on Sept. 27, 1913, which the Glomerata said distinguished it as a “real college newspaper.” Under the direction of editor J. A. Key, The Orange and Blue published news about upcoming social events, athletics, marriage and engagements and academics.
The first of a series of projects made possible by the Works Progress Administration was building a new home for the president of Alabama Polytechnic Institute, to be located on South College Street. Construction began on Nov. 24, 1938, launching a spate of WPA projects that would grow to include 11 buildings and a stadium.
Today, students, faculty, staff and visitors are prohibited from smoking anywhere on university property, but in 1963, classrooms filled with smoke as students and professors alike were allowed to light up. Until Oct. 23, when university president Ralph B. Draughon issued a memorandum banning smoking in all undergraduate classes. The smoking detritus was creating too much work for the housekeeping staff.
Auburn’s campus seemed to be covered with bulldozers and construction workers in hard hats in September with 36 capital projects underway or planned. The largest was a $21.3 million library renovation, adding square footage and a parking deck. Others included a $10 million chemistry building, $8 million athletic center, $7.6 million telecommunications system and $9.5 million dorm project.
Opening on Oct. 3, the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art became the first university art museum in Alabama. The nationally accredited museum featured seven galleries, an auditorium, a café, a gift shop and botanical gardens, and houses some 2,000 works of art, 1,500 of which belong to the permanent collection. Among the most prized: 114 prints by John James Audubon.
Above: Who’s your daddy? Aubie gets a partner—or a rival—on the sidelines as he’s joined by a junior tiger for a few celebratory dance moves. Aubie has won a record seven national college mascot championships, most recently in 2012.
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
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C O L L E G E
S T R E E T
Fueling the passion JAY GOGUE ’69
President, Auburn University
PURELY STRATEGIC The Auburn University
Timothy Boosinger, who
Board of Trustees in
helped develop the plan
June approved a new,
with a strategic planning
five-year strategic plan
steering committee that
to guide the university’s
included faculty, student
direction by focusing on
and staff representatives
five priorities through
in addition to members
2018, including an
of faculty governance and
emphasis on preparing
a number of university
students for success,
administrators.
increasing graduation
President Jay Gogue
university and
appointed Boosinger in
supporting faculty
2012 to lead the effort
excellence.
to develop the plan for
The plan calls for Au-
the university, which
burn to enhance student
follows the previous one
success by increasing
instituted in 2008.
workforce readiness, di-
“The new plan will
versifying enrollment, and
help us prepare for the
increasing accessibility
ever-changing educa-
and online learning
tional landscape while
programs; to support
we also maintain our
faculty excellence and
longstanding strate-
strengthen Auburn’s
gic commitments in
reputation by enhancing
instruction, research and
research, scholarship and
outreach,” Gogue said.
creative work; to become
“Auburn has a great
a national model for
history of outstanding
public engagement; and
programs and we look
to focus its resources on
forward to continuing
institutional priorities.
as a leader in tradi-
“We believe it is a bold plan that will strengthen Auburn’s role
12
Auburn University
rates throughout the
tional areas in addition to emerging disciplines.” The complete five-year
and prominence as an
strategic plan can be
outstanding land-grant
found online at ocm.au-
institution,” said Auburn
burn.edu/strategic_plan/
University Provost
strategicplan2013.pdf.
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
From the time I took the job as Auburn’s president in 2007, I spent a good deal of time conversing with alumni in an effort to establish a collective vision for Auburn’s future. Never have I seen the community and family surrounding a university so dedicated to its well-being. From those meetings and all those since, one thing has remained constant—alumni are passionate about their university. Raymond J. Harbert ’82, who serves as chairman and CEO of Harbert Management Corp. and is on the Auburn University Board of Trustees, is no exception. Through the largest gift in the university’s history, his commitment of $40 million has made possible the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business. The gift is transformational because of its impact and how it will be used. It will establish the Harbert Investments Center, a research enterprise focused on securities and wealth creation. The Harbert name will strengthen the college’s position as a national and global leader in shaping business thought and practice by creating additional eminent-scholar and endowed chairs to recruit and retain top faculty, forming a doctoral program in finance, and enhancing instructional technologies and classroom facilities. Our goal is to be more than a good College of Business, and we’re already there thanks to outstanding faculty, staff, students and equally outstanding
alums. Auburn’s goal is thought leadership in business education, business research and economic development. Another positive aspect of Mr. Harbert’s commitment is that a portion of it includes a $15 million matching gift— challenging other graduates and friends of the College of Business to help it build momentum as the university prepares to enter its next comprehensive campaign. Three College of Business graduates were among a group of donors who answered with challenge match gifts of $1 million or more. Kerry Bradley ’79 and Laura Bradley, Robert M. Broadway Jr. ’91 and Julie Broadway, and David Luck ’71 and Terri Lynn Luck each made commitments in support of endowed and eminent-scholar chairs.
With such a dedicated and loyal following, I see no obstacles in Auburn’s path as we move forward. War Eagle!
jgogue@auburn.edu
www.auburn.edu/samfordcollection
C O L L E G E
S T R E E T
Countless generations of the Auburn Family have come to the oaks at Toomer’s Corner to revel in victory and to sing, “It’s great to be an Auburn Tiger.” Now you can keep a constant reminder of those special moments with the official 2013 Auburn University ornament. The latest addition to the Samford Hall Collection commemorates the Auburn Oaks at Toomer’s Corner in handblown glass. The orb depicts a single tree with orange and blue leaves and was designed and crafted exclusively for Auburn University by Orbix Hot Glass, a family-run studio in Fort Payne, Alabama.
Samford Hall C O L L E C T I O N
B Y
A U B U R N
U N I V E R S I T Y
Samford Hall C O L L E C T I O N
B Y
A U B U R N
U N I V E R S I T Y
Samford Hall C O L L E C T I O N B Y
For the Auburn Family by the Auburn Family.
A U B U R N
U N I V E R S I T Y
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
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C O L L E G E
S T R E E T
An uncommon book Auburn’s 2013-14 Common Book program features the book Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy, written by John Bowe. Bowe will give the keynote speech on Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. in Foy Hall Auditorium. The Common Book program chooses a book each year for students, faculty and the broader community to read, and then offers programs and coursework to discuss related issues and ideas.
The turning point On a field in Gettysburg, Pa., 150 years ago in July, the Civil War experienced its bloodiest battle and biggest turning point. The Auburn Libraries’ Special Collections shares some of its extensive Civil War holdings on a historic anniversary.
This letter from 1862 Mobile bears the Confederate postmark. Its 10-cent stamp features the image of Thomas Jefferson. This Colt Revolving Belt Pistol is a .36-caliber cap-and-ball revolver with a scene engraved on its cylinder of the victory by the Second Texas Navy at the Battle of Campeche.
Confederate bills promised a payback after a peace treaty between the Confederacy and the United States, but payback didn’t come. They’re worth more now as memorabilia.
14
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
Gen. James H. Lane participated in “Pickett’s Charge” at Gettysburg and was wounded three times during the war. He later taught civil engineering at Auburn, and died in 1907.
The diary and scrapbook of John Milton Bancroft details the battles of Gettysburg, Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg.
C O L L E G E
S T R E E T
A community where nature and nurture meet. TheDakotaAuburn.com 2406 Richland Road Auburn, Alabama 36830 Uniquely positioned within some of the most private and beautiful landscapes that the Auburn area offers, our vision for The Dakota emphasizes an ongoing dedication to deliver the best opportunity for peaceful, yet inspired living. Minutes from the Auburn University campus and nestled along the Saugahatchee Creek, The Dakota's focus remains bold, but simple: to provide a higher quality of life through a delicate balance of nature and architecture.
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1 2 7 E a s t M a g n o l i a Av e . at Toomers Corner 3 3 4 .3 2 1 .4 9 6 2
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
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C O L L E G E
S T R E E T
Meet the Prof Ashraf Uddin Professor of geology and geography BACKSTORY Uddin is the president of the Alabama
Geological Society, a professional organization that holds training workshops, recognizes distinguished geologists within the state, promotes earth science projects within high schools and offers scholarships to university students. At Auburn Uddin teaches undergraduate classes such as basin analysis and petroleum geology. MOVING MOUNTAINS Uddin founded and heads
RUNNING IN PLACE Move over, Student Act, the new Auburn Recreation & Wellness Center is here. The 240,000-square-foot facility, an architectural detail of which is shown above, is convenient to the student Village residential area, the Martin Aquatics Center and the tennis courts. Constructed as a “green” building, the center features a one-third-mile raised walking/running track in a corkscrew configuration, cardio/fitness-training areas, weight-training areas, eight basketball courts, an outdoor pool, a rock-climbing wall, group-exercise studios for classes in body-bending workouts like Zumba or yoga, a golf-simulator room and more. Workout, anyone?
A SALUTE TO OUR VETERANS ment, the project will
involved exhaustive re-
research. “(This project)
soon have a way to com-
ultimately include both a
search from the Civil War
was a good fit for me,”
memorate Auburn men
virtual, online memorial
era through the Middle
she said. “I have spent a
and women who have lost
and a physical memorial
Eastern conflicts.
lot of time with military
their lives serving our
to be placed on campus.
country, from the Civil
records, and I thought
information about every
that skill would make it
War through the current
assistant professor Aaron
Auburn man and woman
easier to decode a lot of
Middle Eastern conflicts.
Shapiro and graduate
who died in service to the
the information.”
student Adrianne
country, “ Shapiro said.
Memorial Project was
Hodgin Bruce compiled
Bruce, who served as
ily members or former
conceived almost five
information for the digital
research assistant for the
classmates who died in
years ago by Auburn
memorial, which will be
virtual project, also did
service while a faculty
University President Jay
produced in conjunc-
extensive research into
or staff member or stu-
Gogue, who thought the
tion with AU Libraries
similar projects at other
dent at Auburn, or were
university needed a way
under the leadership of
universities.
graduates of Auburn,
to honor alumni, faculty
Aaron Trehub, assistant
The virtual project
and staff members, and
dean for technology and
will lay the groundwork
to warmem@auburn.
students who have died
technical services, and
for what officials hope
edu, or Auburn Veter-
while in service.
Charles A. Israel, chair of
will become a physical
ans Memorial Project,
the history department.
memorial at a site to be
c/o Department of His-
This virtual, online
disclosed in the future.
tory, 310 Thach Hall, Auburn University, AL
The Auburn
Under the leadership of Bob McGinnis,
16
Former history
“We want to capture
Those who have fam-
can submit information
senior counsel to the
memorial, which will
Bruce was chosen
president and former vice
be the first part of the
from a dozen other ap-
36849-5207.
president of develop-
project completed, has
plicants to handle the
—Bradley Roberts
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
OUT OF CLASS When Uddin finds a few
minutes of spare time, he enjoys watching cricket, soccer, football and baseball, and does gardening with his family.
AU PHOTOGRAPHIC SERVICES
Auburn University will
up the Himalayan Research Lab at Auburn, which analyzes the erosional history of the mountain belts, depositional environments of the sediments, petroleum resources in the sediments and contaminants in groundwater within the sediments. “These studies will also provide important clues to understanding the climate system and how Himalayan evolution has affected global climate patterns over time,” Uddin explained. Recently, the lab has expanded to studying the sediments once eroded from the Southern Appalachians in Alabama and Mississippi.
On the Oyster Trail The Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Auburn University have helped establish the Oyster Trail, an interactive public art project of the Mobile Bay Oyster Gardening Program that debuted July 11. Aimed at raising public awareness of the role oysters play in Gulf Coast ecology, the trail comprises a dozen large fiberglass oysters scattered in hotel lobbies, on sidewalks and in other Mobile locations.
C O L L E G E
S T R E E T
School daze When a university department gets big enough, it gets a promotion. That’s what happened in June as the Auburn University trustees created new schools from four of its strongest academic departments. In the College of Liberal Arts, one can now find the School of Communication and Journalism, while the new School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences lies within the College of Agriculture. In the College of Architecture, Design and Construction, one can find the School of Industrial and Graphic Design, and, finally, the School of Kinesiology is housed within the College of Education. Provost Timothy Boosinger said the departments were evaluated for school status in terms of degree offerings, enrollment, faculty, student credit hours and prominence within their fields. School status will align the departments with programs of similar size at peer institutions, he added. Department heads and faculty members in the former departments say the change will have major long-term effects. “Becoming a school puts us in line with our peer institutions and will help us recruit high-quality students and faculty,” said Jennifer Adams of communication and journalism. “Of the 11 universities in the SEC, 72.7 percent (of communication and journalism programs) are housed in a college and/or school.” Many of those peer schools are named, and having the school designation will allow Auburn’s College of Liberal Arts development officers to work with a pos-
sible donor to obtain the naming rights to the school. David Rouse of fisheries, aquaculture and aquatic sciences said, “We are very pleased. We feel that we have developed an internationally recognized program. Becoming a school will help us expand our program even more.” Clark Lundell of industrial and graphic design added, “The industrial design undergraduate program is currently ranked sixth in the country while its graduate program is ranked fourth. “The graphic design program is the only bachelor of fine arts in graphic design degree offered in Alabama. The elevation of department to school status acknowledges this level of achievement and allows the School of Industrial and Graphic Design to be competitive with other like programs nationally.” Said David Pascoe of kinesiology, “We are ranked 22nd in the U.S. and moving up quickly among our peers. Designation as a school will give us the opportunity to achieve still more in terms of national and international recognition for our programs, the College of Education, Auburn University and state of Alabama.” The newcomers join four other collegeaffiliated schools and three freestanding schools: the School of Accountancy; the School of Fine Arts; the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture; the McWhorter School of Building Science; the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences; and the School of Nursing; and the Harrison School of Pharmacy.
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a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
17
C O L L E G E
S T R E E T
Research
What makes bedbugs tick? AGE LINES Growth rings from the
professor in Auburn’s
base of Auburn Univer-
School of Forestry and
sity’s College Street live
Wildlife Sciences, to
oak at Toomer’s Corner
age the tree by counting
revealed the tree’s age
the growth rings.
of 83-85 years at the
nating bands of early
Avenue twin were re-
and late wood and typi-
moved on April 23.
cally constitute a year’s
Two Auburn professors independently
growth in the trunk diameter.
counted 81 growth rings
Despite campus
in two directions, start-
legends that date the
ing from the center of
trees earlier, research
the tree’s trunk.
findings support the
“The center one-inch
planting of the two oak
section of the trunk was
trees in 1937. Photo-
split and not clearly
graphs taken in 1938
delineated,” said horti-
and 1939 show two
culture professor Gary
trees that were from 8
Keever. “This growth
feet to 12 feet tall.
most likely occurred
“The photographic
over two to four years,
evidence coupled with
making the trees 83-85
our growth ring count
years old.”
makes us confident in
Keever worked with Brian Via, an associate
18
The rings are alter-
time it and its Magnolia
aging them at 83-85 years,” said Via.
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
The first thing Zach DeVries does when he opens the door to a new hotel room is put his luggage in the bathtub. “I’m not being paranoid,” DeVries says. “I’m being cautious.” It is a caution born of insight that DeVries has acquired over the past couple of years as an Auburn master’s-level entomology graduate student whose research is aimed at discovering basic biological information to add to the relatively shallow body of scientific knowledge about bedbugs. So there is method to his madness: He puts his bags in the tub so that, if his subsequent examination of the bed and everything around it reveals the tell-tale signs of bedbugs—mainly fecal and blood stains in the seams and crevices of mattresses—he can grab that luggage and scram. “All it takes is one female bedbug that has been mated getting into your luggage and going home with you, and you could have a real problem,” DeVries says, noting that the insects can lay as many as 500 eggs in their lifetimes. Working under the guidance of Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology head and professor Art Appel, DeVries is studying bedbug metabolism—specifically, how the tiny pests’ metabolic rates are affected by feeding and starvation and what is at play metabolically that enables bedbugs to survive a year or longer without feeding. Bedbugs are a global pest and for centuries have plagued people physically, psychologically and financially, but the insects seemed to disappear in the U.S. in the early 1950s, a situation likely attributable to the use of DDT, according to DeVries’ study of previous research literature. So it was that many Baby Boomers and Gen Xers grew up thinking that the bedbugs of bedtime-rhyme fame were more or less imaginary.
As bedbug populations dwindled, so did scientific interest in studying and searching for control strategies of the parasitic pests. Thus, when the insects returned with a vengeance in the late 1990s, the most recent research was four decades old and light-years removed from today’s technology. DeVries and Appel use closed-system respirometry to measure oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production of immature bedbugs as they grow and of adults for more than 800 hours after feeding. Their findings indicate the insects’ metabolic rate slows during starvation. “When they have a constant food supply”—a bedbug feeds about once a week—“their metabolism allows them to grow and reproduce at an optimal level,” DeVries said. “If they miss feeding, their metabolism basically plateaus. We believe it’s their way of conserving energy in an effort to survive for as long as possible, until food becomes available again.” —Jamie Creamer
Economic engines A newly released series of reports demonstrates the dominant and indispensable role the agriculture and forestry sector plays in the economic fortunes of Alabama’s 67 counties. Economic Impacts of Alabama’s Agriculture, Forestry and Related Industries are the result of a collaborative effort of the Alabama Agribusiness Council, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Auburn University and other businesses and organizations. The comprehensive county-level data is available online: http://www.AlabamaAgImpact.com.
C O L L E G E
S T R E E T
ADAPTATION When Franklin Butts
Search and rescue Student pharmacists in Auburn University’s Harrison School of Pharmacy are accustomed to working with the public and with professional pharmacists in the course of their research and studies. Now, they’re teaming with law enforcement. The target? Prescription and over-the-counter medication abuse, and the hazards of expired meds. Members of the National Community Pharmacy Association at Auburn University and the Auburn Police Division collected more than 170 pounds of unused or expired medications through two Medication Take Back events at a local pharmacy. By offering the community a convenient, legal way to dispose of medications, student pharmacists and officers reduced the risk of these drugs being abused and ensured their safe disposal. “People flush their old medications down the toilet or throw them in the trash, but that can contaminate the water and someone could get them out of the trash,” said pharmacy student Kim Nguyen. Each local Take Back day coincided with the national effort of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to combat prescription abuse. Since 2010, more than 2.8 million pounds of pills have been collected nationwide. According to the 2011 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health, more than 6 million Americans abuse prescription drugs. More than 70
percent of people abusing pain relievers got them through friends or relatives, sometimes raiding the medicine cabinet. Elaine Beech ’83, a representative in the Alabama Legislature and a pharmacy alumna, has proposed a bill to allow pharmacists to legally collect unused or expired medications. Currently, only law enforcement can legally collect it. Before Take Back days, the usual method for disposing of old medications was flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash. But both pose potential safety and health hazards to people and the environment. Jim Hairston, emeritus professor of agronomy and soils, said scientists became concerned about the flushing of medications when they discovered many of the chemicals in medications went through wastewater treatment plants without degrading. If the water purification process didn’t remove the chemicals, they likely ended up back in the water supply consumed by people. The result isn’t healthy for either people or the planet. Patterson and Nguyen viewed the Take Back events as a way to help the community and environment, as well as practice what they’ve learned in class. Student pharmacists test their knowledge of various medications and work on patient interaction, which is strongly emphasized for students in Auburn’s pharmacy school.—Amy Weaver
“The goal of the
began exercising
program is to cater to
with Auburn Univer-
individuals with dis-
sity’s Adaptive Fitness
abilities—students,
program, he could not
faculty, staff, anyone in
push his wheelchair
the Auburn commu-
very far at a time. For
nity,” said Ford Dyke,
the past seven years,
kinesiology grad stu-
Butts has continued to
dent. “The focus is on
get stronger, recently
accessible weight and
rolling his first 5k. He
cardiovascular training
credits the program
and assisted exercise.”
training for his success. The Adaptive Fitness
Butts and other participants use a weight
program was started
room with wheelchair-
when kinesiology pro-
accessible machines,
fessors Yong Tai Wang
including a NuStep re-
and Wendi Weimar dis-
cumbent cross-trainer
covered that individuals
and several hand bikes.
who use wheelchairs
The Adaptive Fitness
had severely weakened
program is held on
shoulder muscles. They
Monday, Wednesday
collaborated with the
and Friday from 5-6
School of Kinesiology
p.m. in Beard-Eaves-
and the Office of Ac-
Memorial Coliseum,
cessibility to develop
room 1129. The
an exercise program to
program is free; those
aid wheelchair users.
interested in can email
Now in its 14th year,
Dyke at fbd0001@au-
the program has ex-
burn.edu or visit room
panded to include other
1129 in the coliseum.
physical disabilities.
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
19
C O L L E G E
S T R E E T
Roundup COLLEGE OF
Agriculture Alabama’s most profitable agricultural industry is the focus of a new partnership between Auburn University and Wallace State Community College in Hanceville. The partnership is designed to open more career doors in a part of the state where much of the poultry industry is concentrated. Students will complete their freshman and sophomore years at Wallace State and their junior and senior years at Auburn. The demand for producers, scientists and business leaders in the industry can be seen in Auburn’s
Department of Poultry Science, with a 100 percent job-placement rate of its graduates for several years, department head Don Conner said. While at Wallace State, students will complete their core curriculum and an introductory course streamed from the Auburn campus. COLLEGE OF
Architecture, Design and Construction The McWhorter School of Building Science held its annual awards banquet on April 18 at the Marriott Grand National in Opelika. The Lifetime Achievement Award
was presented to Robin Savage ’82, chief operating officer for Robins & Morton. He has also been a longtime supporter of the school with his time and gifts, and has served on numerous committees to help guide the school through name changes, capital campaigns, new buildings and both good and bad economies. Others honored at the awards presentation included Faculty Excellence Teaching Awards winners Junshan Liu, Anoop Sattineni, Scott W. Kramer and J. Mark Taylor; Ben Farrow, Aderholdt Professorship; Kyle Scott, Sigma Lambda Chi Ethics Award; John “Alex” Gandy and Kathryn Crowley, outstanding seniors; Rebecca Burslem and Mackenzie Searle, outstanding graduate students; and book
award and scholarship recipients. RAYMOND J. HARBERT COLLEGE OF
Business The 2013 class of Master of Accountancy program students aced the national, four-section CPA exam this spring. Firsttime exam participants from Auburn achieved a pass rate of 95 percent on three or more sections and a 74 percent pass rate on all sections. Their pass rate on individual sections—Auditing and Attestation, Business Environment and Concepts, Financial Accounting and Reporting and Regulation—ranged from 88 to 95 percent. The average individual section pass rates for first-time and repeat CPA exam participants nationwide range from 48 percent to 57 percent. COLLEGE OF
Education The Auburn University online Master of Education degree program is ranked No. 1 in the U.S. by TheBestSchools.org, a leading higher education and career website. TheBestSchools.org rated the Top 20 online master of education programs based on academic excellence, quality of course offer-
20
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
ings, faculty, awards and school reputation. U.S. News & World Report in January ranked Auburn’s online graduate degree program in education No. 2 in the nation.
will include participation by health educators such as cardiac nursing students, who are interested in cardiac-regeneration research.
SAMUEL GINN
SCHOOL OF
COLLEGE OF
Forestry and Wildlife Sciences
Engineering Elizabeth Lipke, an assistant professor in Auburn University’s Department of Chemical Engineering, has received a $400,000 grant through the National Science Foundation’s prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Program for her research designing engineered cardiac tissue and developing new cardiac regeneration techniques. Limited to a few individuals each year, the award recognizes outstanding college and university faculty members in the early stages of their careers and supports their research and outreach activities with funding for five years. “Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death in the United States each year for both men and women,” Lipke said. Her interdisciplinary project
Two SFWS students and a recent graduate decided not to hit the beach this year during spring break. Instead, they worked in the Alternative Spring Break program sponsored by the Student Conservation Association. For the 2013 season, the SCA and clothing company American Eagle Outfitters engaged 120 students from across the country in hands-on conservation service at two locations. The trip is a service learning experience, with hands-on conservation work and at least one recreational trip to a local destination. Daniel Boudousquie and Joe Green both spent the week in the Santa Monica mountains in California, doing conservation work such as
Making history Hannah Riordan ’13, a native of Ontario, Canada, received one of 15 History Scholar Awards given by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. The award recognizes graduating seniors who have demonstrated academic and extracurricular excellence. Riordan, a history major and member of Auburn’s swimming and diving team, submitted an essay about how her experiences at Auburn stimulated her interest in the American Civil War and Canada’s role in the conflict.
pulling weeds, performing trail maintenance and planting native species. Boudousquie said that the students they worked with were not just from different schools, but from a variety of majors, including geology, engineering and health management. “Everybody brought something to the table that was different,” he said. COLLEGE OF
Human Sciences The website FashionSchools.org recently ranked Auburn the seventh-best fashionmerchandising school in its rankings of the nation’s top 75 schools in that discipline. They reviewed more than 200 fashion-related programs. Auburn’s program in consumer and design sciences, which offers degrees in apparel merchandising, design and production management, ranked seventh behind the Fashion Institute of Technology; Kent State; Drexel; Oregon State; Delaware; and Iowa State. Rounding out the Top 10 were Nebraska, Missouri and Virginia Commonwealth. COLLEGE OF
Liberal Arts Following a national search, Joseph Aistrup has been named the dean of Auburn University’s College of Liberal Arts. Aistrup, currently the
associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Kansas State University, will begin his appointment Sept. 1. Aistrup began his tenure at Kansas State in 2002 as associate professor and head of the political science department. He also served as interim dean of the KSU College of Arts and Sciences before becoming associate dean in October 2012. Prior to joining Kansas State, Aistrup was director of the Docking Institute of Public Affairs
and professor of political science and justice studies at Fort Hays State University. AUBURN UNIVERSITY
Libraries The Department of Special Collections and
Archives is currently hosting an exhibit of items donated by John Vick ’62 and his wife, Faye. The exhibit contains items associated with U.S. postal, Alabama postal, general Alabama, Naval and Civil War history. Some of the more interesting items are correspondence with Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Raphael Semmes, captain of the Confederate raider C.S.S. Alabama. The exhibit is open during all regular Special Collections and
Archives hours, including football Saturdays. SCHOOL OF
Nursing The Auburn University School of Nursing is making preparations for its 13th Annual
Blue Jean Ball. This year, the annual fundraiser will be held in Montgomery at the AUM campus on Oct. 4. The ball, which is child-friendly, is open to the public, and individual tickets can be purchased, as well as table sponsorships. A silent auction will begin when the doors open at 5 p.m. and will run until 8 p.m. HARRISON SCHOOL OF
Pharmacy Taking medications, engaging in healthy lifestyles and quitting harmful habits are vital for good health, but patients often don’t follow the advice of health care professionals and thus put their health at risk. Two Auburn University professors emeriti address the problem in a new book written to help doctors, nurses, pharmacists— anyone working with patients—assess the patient’s motivation to engage in healthy behaviors, or not engage. The book, Motivational Interviewing for Health Care Professionals: A Practical Approach, by Bruce Berger and William Villuame, professors emeriti of the Harrison School of Pharmacy, was published by the American
C O L L E G E
Pharmacists Association and released on Aug. 1. The book is available through Amazon.com and the American Pharmacists Association. COLLEGE OF
Sciences and Mathematics Following a national search, Purdue University professor and physics department head Nicholas Giordano has been named dean of the Auburn University College of Sciences and Mathematics, effective Aug. 5. Giordano began his tenure at Purdue in 1979, first as assistant professor, then rising through the ranks to become head of the physics department in 2007. Among his research interests are the physics of nanostructures and mesoscopic systems, and musical acoustics and the physics of the piano.. He is a fellow with the American Physical Society as well as serving as a member of the Acoustical Society of America, Technical Committee on Musical Acoustics of the ASA and the Biophysical Society. COLLEGE OF
Veterinary Medicine U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), a senior member of the senate’s Environment and Public Works Com-
S T R E E T
mittee, co-sponsored a bill passed by the U.S. Senate celebrating American Eagle Day and recognizing the Southeastern Raptor Center in Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. The bill, Senate Resolution 174, was passed by the Senate as a bipartisan measure to designate June 20, 2013, as “American Eagle Day” in celebration of the recovery of the American Bald Eagle. “The bald eagle is an American treasure and inspiring symbol of our national sovereignty and precious freedoms as American citizens,” Sessions stated. “I am particularly proud that, once again, the Senate has recognized the outstanding work of the Auburn University Southeastern Raptor Center.” The center was established in the mid-1970s when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service brought six injured birds to the College of Veterinary Medicine and asked that the school become a regional rehab hub. Annually, the center treats as many as 275 birds of prey from across the Southeast and has treated and released thousands of birds back into the wild. In May, the center released an American Bald Eagle in Auburn, the first locally found and rehabilitated bald eagle to be released.
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
21
S T U D E N T
L I F E
CONCOURSE
Lessons for a lifetime Interview Jaimen Perez Junior, Business THE 4-1-1 Jaimen Perez, a junior business major
from New Hampshire, is the manager of Auburn’s Community Gardens, a 900-square-foot area with plots that students, faculty and community members “rent” from April to November in order to grow fresh fruits and vegetables. GREEN THUMB Perez oversees 65 plots, which he
said are cared for by a diverse group, from engineering professors to a graduate student in etymology growing weeds that he’ll feed to the bugs he studies. Families rent many of the plots, and Perez said he thinks people can “build community through gardening.” He’d like to see more undergraduate students try the gardens and learn how food travels from seed to table. WHAT’S “REAL” FOOD? Perez became involved
with the gardens through the umbrella organization Auburn’s Real Food Challenge. The food challenge is committed to bringing more local food to Tiger Dining, including the vegetables grown on Auburn’s campus. The Community Gardens also contain a “Plant a Row” plot, which cultivates fresh and local food for donation to the Opelika Community Market. GARDEN NOTES The Auburn University Commu-
nity Garden is a collaboration with the East Alabama Food Bank and provides fresh, local vegetables to the economically deprived citizens of Lee County and the East Alabama area.
22
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
Slapping a Band-Aid on a deep cut might stanch the bleeding, but it doesn’t fix the underlying problem of needing stitches or antibiotics. Which is why faculty and students who are involved in Auburn’s program in Community and Civic Engagement are not out to simply solve problems—they want to learn the problem behind the problems. Community and Civic Engagement, housed in the College of Liberal Arts, debuted in 2010 and currently has about 45 students pursuing a minor. It requires a practicum and a senior capstone course, which 11 students have completed. The minor is not focused on charity, which differentiates it from other service curricula, says Mark Wilson, one of the program directors. The coursework is structured to give an authentic experience for students to understand civic life from a citizen’s perspective and begin to unearth the aspects creating problems like poverty. “[Charity is] not the way society moves forward, so we want students leaving the work with more questions than when they began,” Wilson said. The capstone projects involve students choosing a community on which to focus, with activities that can range from preparing a Thanksgiving meal to creating library activities for children. Some students have tackled theoretical problems facing their chosen community, such as youth leaving their hometowns after completing school, creating an aging population. “Students have to understand the community, listen to the community,
listen more to the community, and understand hopes and dreams of what local people want to do and are willing to do,” Wilson says. “They have to figure out where they can fit into that process. We see it as organizing people for change, rather than working on people for change.” The coursework is similarly structured. In the classroom, students focus on issues such as global politics, but also have the opportunity for hands-on experience, like spending a week in the mountains of Tennessee to help the community archive its history for the practicum. The Living Democracy program, for example, is a community experience in which the student picks a location to live for an entire semester, work on a collaborative project with community leaders, and keep a written record through a blog. An important
C O N C O U R S E
Tailgate with Alumni and Friends aspect of the project is the partnership with the area residents. Students help the community achieve a goal rather than dictate an individual plan they wish to see promoted. The success comes from the diversity of people pooling ideas. Blake Evans, a communications major, lived in Linden for a semester—in a firehouse. He helped create an economic development documentary for businesses considering Linden as a location and also organized a photography project with the local high school detailing what is good about Linden and what possibly could be improved. “The entire process went a long way toward instilling in me the importance of the values of democracy and listening to the community’s voice,” Evans said, explaining that he knew the project was a success when he was invited back later to be the special grand marshal of the local Chili Festival Parade. The Community and Civic Engagement minor benefits a wide range of majors. Anna Claire Conrad, a senior in journalism with a community and civic engagement minor, said the practicum course was inspirational to her because she was able to personally see how it’s the people in her study community of Bayou La Batre that keep the area going. “This minor is all about helping people and helping people help themselves. I knew when I declared my major my freshman year that I wanted to use my skills in journalism to help people and bring about good in my community. By minoring in community and civic engagement, I will be able to do that,” Conrad said. Wilson thinks the minor lays the groundwork for students to become interested in community involvement. “We hope our students will take with them a sense of, ‘Hey wherever I end up, I want to be involved in my community, I want to cross lines of class, race and gender, and all those things that seem to separate us as humans from each other, in order to better our community together.’ ” The values developed within the coursework and projects, he hopes, will follow students throughout their lives. “We want them to leave here with a sense of citizenship.” —Summer Austin
FROM A DISTANCE Want to take a class at
our ability to provide
Auburn but can’t quite
educational opportuni-
make it to campus?
ties to the citizens of
The university has
Alabama who can’t
created a comprehen-
come to campus,”
sive online resource for
said Provost Timothy
distance and continuing
Boosinger.
education programs to
“It is essential that
give current and poten-
our traditional and non-
tial students convenient
traditional students are
access to information
able to access Auburn
about educational op-
University’s online
portunities.
offerings in a way that
The website, www.
is simple, direct and
auburn.edu/online,
showcases the distinct
pulls together in one
features and unique
location all distance and
capabilities of our
continuing education
programs.”
programs organized by
The website will allow
category in the areas of
individuals to expand per-
undergraduate, gradu-
sonal knowledge, advance
ate, professional and
career skills or even earn
personal-enrichment
a college degree.
coursework. The website
“Online courses are
was designed for easy
becoming a big part of
navigation.
education worldwide,
A list of avail-
and Auburn is getting
able resources and
a lot of attention about
other information can
providing online cours-
be found on the site as
es,” said Greg Ruff,
well, directing potential
director of engineering
students to people and
outreach and continuing
online loctions to learn
education.
more about specific offerings. “The delivery of
October 19th College Station, TX
November 9th Knoxville, TN
Let’s show those Aggies and Vols how Tigers tailgate Join us Oct. 19 in College Station and Nov. 9 in Knoxville. Sponsored by the Auburn Alumni Association with the Greater Houston and Smoky Mountain Auburn Clubs.
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auburnclubs.org
“The addition of an uncomplicated web method to reach Au-
Auburn’s eLearning
burn’s online offerings
programs and course
will go a long way toward
offerings is an essential
satisfying potential stu-
part of our land-grant
dent inquiries about our
mission and supports
courses and degrees.”
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
23
Loving our trees Auburn University has earned the Tree Campus USA designation from the Arbor Day Foundation for a fourth consecutive year. The designation recognizes Auburn for promoting healthy trees and engaging staff and students in conservation efforts. Auburn has supported the Arbor Day Foundation’s core values by establishing a tree advisory committee, creating a treecare plan, dedicating an annual budget for tree care, establishing an Arbor Day observance and sponsoring student service-learning projects.
C O N C O U R S E
Syllabus COURSE NAME: POLI 3720 “Issues in Compara-
tive Politics: Intelligence Services and National Security” INSTRUCTOR Paul Johnson, associate professor,
Department of Political Science THE SCOOP The course takes a look at the intel-
ligence organizations of the two most powerful countries of the post-World War II international system, the United States and the USSR/Russia, while also looking at intelligence agencies in Great Britain, China and Israel.
Students and vets Six veterans who had left
24
The inspiration to in-
of Architecture, Design
position; a prosthetic
and Construction.
with a more comfortable
SECRETS A self-proclaimed “history junkie,”
the challenges of active-
clude military veterans
Johnson hopes to make the class fun while educating students about collecting and analyzing intelligence, counterintelligence and covert action. “I teach about how the U.S. gets secrets from other places, and how to stop the other guys from getting our secrets,” Johnson said.
duty military life behind
in this year’s assistive
to face new challenges
technology project came
erans worked together
of mobility for an active
in civilian life recently
from veteran Doris Hill,
to uncover challenges,
person; a storage com-
teamed with students at
who joined Auburn’s
research each disability
partment to attach to a
Auburn to generate ideas
Center for Disability
and learn what already
wheelchair that holds
for customized devices
Research and Service in
existed in the market-
items used on a daily
that would improve qual-
2011 after a career in
place before turning
basis and helps the user
INTELLIGENTSIA The course familiarizes students
ity of life for themselves
the Army. Hill said as
to the job of finding
be more self-sufficient;
with the basics of what “intelligence” is, imparts basic historical information about the origins, activities and evolutions of selected national intelligence communities, examines contemporary controversies about the effectiveness of intelligence and ponders the important issues of ethics, law and public policy, including basic constitutional issues of control of intelligence agencies.
and for other veterans
a veteran herself, she
solutions,” said Jerrod
a portable attachment
with disabilities.
thought the model that
Windham, an assistant
to aid getting in and out
was already in place had
professor of indus-
of a tub or shower; a
secutive year, industrial
plenty of applications
trial design who directs
mouth stick to operate
design students and
for veterans with dis-
students in the assistive
electronic devices; and
rehabilitation students
abilities.
technology project.
a customized crutch-
For the sixth con-
collaborated to design
The center opened in
“Students and vet-
socket and greater range
Concepts ranged
like device to improve
solutions for the dis-
2010 and is housed in
from simple solutions
balance. The veterans
abled through assistive
the College of Educa-
to complex, customiz-
who participated in this
SUGGESTED READING Intelligence: From Secrets
technology projects.
tion’s Department of
able prosthetics. Some
year’s project had a
to Policy by Mark M. Lowenthal, and Intelligence: The Secret World of Spies by Loch K. Johnson and James J. Wirtz. Students also are required to do a book review on a book they choose that is closely related to the subject of the course.
This year, six student
Special Education, Reha-
of the devices explored
range of military ser-
teams were each paired
bilitation and Counsel-
by the teams in this
vice—from two to more
with a veteran of the
ing. The Department of
year’s project include
than 21 years—and a
U.S. military who has a
Industrial and Graphic
an assist to move from a
variety of disabilities.
disability.
Design is in the College
wheelchair to a standing
—Neali Vann and Carol Nelson
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
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AUtumn Nights ®
sept. 6 OCT. 25 Nov. 29
auburn nights ad Kick of f these home game weekends with an evening of Auburn fun and live music in downtown’s new event space. aubie I cheerleaders I band
6-10 PM I Gay STREET
PRESENTED BY:
Auburn Chamber I Auburn University Athletics I City of Auburn Auburn Alumni Association I Auburn Downtown Merchants Association for updates and information, visit facebook.com/auburnchamber. a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
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S P O R T S
TIGER WALK JEF F ET H ERIDG E
Method to the muscle
For strength coach Ryan Russell, football season is tough enough. Then there’s the rest of the year. How do you motivate a football player to work out 365 days a year? Ryan Russell, Auburn’s new strength and conditioning coach, is always on the search for answers. For most of us, the well-tuned machine that trots onto the field each Saturday as the Auburn Tigers is a given, conditioning-wise. Football players, especially SEC players, are the elite of the elite. They’re always in peak condition and ready to play. Assuming that’s true, Russell is the behind-the-scenes MVP. Before and after
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the season, while the other coaches are focused on plays, formations, figuring out opponent strengths and weaknesses, and recruiting, Russell is motivating, cajoling and sometimes psychoanalyzing his players. He does an athletics version of a SWOT analysis, looking at each individual player and developing a year-round training program to keep every single Auburn Tiger in peak condition. If Russell’s name and face sound and look familiar, there’s good reason. He
worked with the Auburn Tigers both as a graduate assistant and as an assistant coach after stints at the University of Kentucky and Boise State. He’s not a stranger to head coach Gus Malzahn, either—before returning to Auburn this year, he served in the same position with Malzahn at Arkansas State. Russell says he’s happy to be back in a coaching spot on the Plains. “I’m hoping I’m here for a while. I’ve been able to move up throughout my career here. I wouldn’t
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be where I’m at if it wasn’t for Auburn. It’s a special place.” That means he gives each player special treatment. Russell begins by evaluating incoming freshmen for function and movement, pinpointing key physical deficiencies like the posterior chain (the strength of muscles on the posterior of the body such as lower back, hamstring and gluteus maximus) and the posterior shoulder girdle (upper back strength). He also frequently sees weakness in the power zone, or core, and lack of hip mobility. For Russell, those are areas that need correcting long before a player hits the field. “I always compare it to building a house on a faulty foundation,” he says. “It might last for a little while, but eventually it’s going to crumble. Only then do players move to the real training program, where Russell helps them clean up faulty movement patterns and begin a four-stage course of training. It’s ambitious, and how far the players progress along the stages depends on not only their physical conditioning but their mental dedication. The majority of the
players in July, he said, were in stage two. The programs he develops vary slightly by the position—a quarterback’s conditioning might differ a bit from that of an offensive lineman, for example. The time of year makes a difference as well. The players combine field workouts with training in the James T. Tatum Jr. Strength and Conditioning Center, a 14,000-square-foot facility that contains everything from 20 power stations, a variety of upper-and lower-body machines and medicine balls to aerobic equipment and an astroturf hill set at a 45-degree incline. In the winter, when players return from their holidays, he puts them through seven full weeks of four-day rotations, beginning with linear-speed on Mondays through rigorous upper-body conditioning on Fridays. Next, in the three-to-four weeks before spring training, he sets up a threeday rotation during which players do total-body work and lifting on MondayWednesday-Friday and agility training on Tuesday-Thursday. For that well-oiled machine to be in prime condition for the opening kickoff, most of the intense strength and conditioning happens during the off-season. Workouts might last two hours before the season begins, but when game-day rolls around, the guys need to have plenty of energy in reserve. “We want to get as much done as we can in the training room, but we’ve got to make sure they have a full tank of gas going into practice and into games,” Russell says. “We’re still going to lift heavy, the intensity’s still going to be up as far as the weight that’s on the bar, but the volume is going to be drastically down.” Although physical requirements change throughout the year, a big part of Russell’s job is keeping the players mentally motivated. “When you can find out what makes each individual guy tick, it’s like pure gold because then you can get them to do whatever you need,” he says, adding that it also helps the coaches anticipate how the players will react to adverse situations. “Each guy is different. Finding what motivates each player is the biggest thing and the most challenging thing.”—Summer Austin
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FOLLOWUSON
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Night moves Auburn’s first three football games this fall will kick off in prime time. The Tigers open the season Aug. 31 against Washington State at 6 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN-U. On Sept. 7, Gus Malzahn will meet his former Arkansas State team at 6:30 p.m., televised on FSN. The SEC opener against Mississippi State will kick off at 6 p.m. on Sept. 14 and will be broadcast on one of the ESPN networks.
TIGERS GIVE BACK In late spring, the
the Boykin Community
Auburn Tigers coaching
Center’s Head Start
staff took to the streets
program. There, they
without a ball, whistle
played with kids dur-
or playbook in sight.
ing their morning rou-
More than 100
and Joyland Day Care,
members abandoned
and assisted with of-
their daily tasks to
fice organization.
head into the commu-
“That’s a bingo”
nity to lend a hand as
could be heard from
part of the Fifth Annual
head football coach
Tigers Give Back Day.
Gus Malzahn at the
The morning began as
Azalea Place Assisted
groups were dispatched
Living facility as he led
to 13 locations. Auburn
a group in some highly
head men’s basketball
competitive games of
coach Tony Barbee
bingo. “It was great
kicked off the day at
today. We ran hurry-up,
Dean Road Elementary
no-huddle bingo. They
School by reading with
had to keep up.”
students. “It’s always
Malzahn loved it.
fun to reach out to
“Anytime we can get
kids, especially at (my
out in the community
son) Drew’s school,”
and give back, it's a
Barbee said afterward.
good time.”
“It’s always fun to inspire kids to read.” At the same time,
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tine at both Head Start
athletics staff
Sybil Haughery, marketing coordinator for the senior
members of the
communities of the
sports-medicine staff
East Alabama Medical
and senior administra-
Center, agreed. “Our
tors formed a Tiger
residents are quite
Walk for 3-, 4- and
competitive, and
5-year-olds as they
haven’t lost their
arrived for school at
competitive edge.”
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Sunny days Sunny Golloway was named Auburn University’s 17th head baseball coach on June 14, succeeding former coach John Pawlowski. Golloway has spent the previous eight seasons as head coach at the University of Oklahoma, where he led the Sooners to seven NCAA Regional berths, four NCAA Super Regionals and the 2010 College World Series. “I’m really excited about this opportunity because I’ve always held the Auburn baseball program in very high regard,” Golloway said when his hiring was announced. “The history of the Auburn program was a huge factor in making this decision. Secondly, the Southeastern Conference is the top baseball conference in America. Being able to compete in the SEC is a challenge that we look forward to. With our location, we are in a hotbed of talent. We will be able to hit the road recruiting right away, and we look forward
to recruiting the best student-athletes to represent this outstanding university.” Golloway said he and his family were impressed with Auburn as soon as they arrived on campus for a visit. He has been a proven winner at each of his head coaching stops. In 16 full seasons as a head coach—eight seasons each at Oklahoma and Oral Roberts—Golloway amassed a record of 681-337-1 (.669), including 12 seasons with at least 40 wins. He recorded a mark of 346-181-1 (.656) in eight-plus seasons as the Oklahoma head baseball coach, an average of more than 40 wins per season. Prior to the 2013 season, Golloway’s winning percentage ranked No. 15 nationally among active college head coaches. This season in Norman, Okla., Golloway led the Sooners to a 43-21 overall record, a Big 12 Tournament title, an NCAA Regional title and a Super Regional appearance.
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Networking The Southeastern Conference and ESPN have signed a 20-year agreement through 2034 to create and operate a multiplatform network, which will launch in August 2014. The new network and its accompanying digital platform will air SEC content 24/7, including more than 1,000 events in its first year. The network will televise approximately 45 SEC football games, more than 100 men’s basketball games, 60 women’s basketball games, 75 baseball games and events from across the SEC’s 21 sports annually. Programming will also include studio shows, original content, spring football games, and signing-day and proday coverage. Hundreds of additional live events from various sports will be offered exclusively on the digital platform.
The network and its digital extensions will connect with each SEC institution and create opportunities for each school to produce and develop content. Each fall weekend throughout the season, the network will air multiple football matchups from the conference. Since 2006, the SEC has claimed seven consecutive football national championships.
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For NTSB official Lorenda Ward ’90, ‘CSI’ stands for ‘crash scene investigator’ as she coaxes stories of heroism and heartbreak from voice recordings and bits of twisted metal. b y c l a y o m a i n s k y
Clearing the Air many would argue that humans were not made to hurtle through space at 600 miles per hour inside a metal can with wings, and yet air travel is consistently our safest means of The “black box,” often transportation. a primary source of When planes crash, howinformation about the cause of plane ever, it’s often a spectacle of crashes, is not black epic proportions. Just menat all, but an Auburn shade of orange. tion 9-11 and Lockerbie, Flight-data recordScotland, and terrorist activiers and cockpit voice ties come to mind. The 1977 recorders came into use during World War Tenerife disaster that killed II but only became 583 was caused by pilot erstandard on commerror following tower miscomcial airplanes after a 1956 midair collision munication. The recent crash over the Grand Canyon of an Asiania flight at San resulted in more than a hundred casualties. Francisco International was
PHOTOGRA PH Y B Y J E F F E T H E RI DGE
at magazine press time still under investigation. What causes planes to crash—whether mechanical problems, human error or an act of terrorists—is the job of aviation forensic investigators. Like the “CSI” operatives we watch on TV dramas, these specialized sleuths study not only the contents of the plane’s “black box” but the damage patterns and individual pieces of the plane’s wreckage itself, coaxing the story of a disaster from scorched fibers and twisted metal. Lorenda Ward ’90 is one of the senior “go team” aviation investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board, an independent government agency responsible for all air-crash investigations involving U.S. carriers as well as other major transportation-related accidents such as infrastructure failures or train accidents.
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On a recent spring day at her home in Virginia, Ward was busy making plans to share the wonders of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum with her 5-year-old son. Even on a day off from work, Ward indulges her passion for airplanes, her interest in aeronautics extending beyond her Washington, D.C., office, where she likens her work to “putting together the most complex jigsaw puzzle ever.”
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ard never knows when a puzzle will need piecing together, but whenever the call comes, she has to be ready. She has two hours after being notified of a crash to be on her way, wherever it might be. She’s traveled from Japan to Puerto Rico, California to Maine, and often has to reschedule or cancel personal plans because of the job’s oncall requirement. “I’m outside cutting my grass, and all of a sudden, I have to pack up and go somewhere,” she says.
Her yard work might suffer, but Ward’s first priority is conducting investigations that will result in safer air travel. She even celebrated her last birthday in Takamatsu, Japan, when a Nippon Airways-operated Boeing 787 was forced to make an emergency landing after the alarm system indicated battery discharge and the pilots noticed an unusual odor in the cockpit. A day later, Ward—the NTSB’s accredited representative to the Japan Transport Safety Board—was on site. Ward’s role is twofold in this type of case. “We’re there for aviation safety, but we also ensure U.S. interests are protected. We don’t want anyone to unjustly blame a U.S. product.” If you followed this story, you might have seen her. Ward was pictured in news outlets, including Reuters and Yahoo, swarmed by a sea of reporters, microphones and cameras as she dragged her suitcase through a crowd of Japanese media. “That was actually quite overwhelming and one of the first times in 15 years of doing this job that it’s happened,” she says. “It was like a human roadblock.” She was especially surprised when journalists began calling her out by her name. “Granted, they’re trying to get their questions out there and get them answered, but all we’re trying to do is get through the airport so we can do our investigation.” While the JTSB has since stated that the plane’s lithium-ion battery was wired improperly, the NTSB continues to investigate a prior, potentially related incident involving another Japanese-operated 787 Dreamliner battery that in January caught fire while parked at Boston’s Logan International Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all 787 Dreamliners for nearly three months before clearing Boeing to make fixes to the problematic battery system. The investigation is ongoing, Ward says, so she’s not at liberty to discuss the potential causes of these battery fires—only that she’s convinced the investigators will solve the mystery. Unfortunately, not all investigations involve engineering glitches and no casualties. Nonfatal incidents like the Boeing 787 in Japan are easier, at least emotionally, Ward says. She’s worked more than her share of accidents where lives were lost. “The majority of the investigations I do are accidents, and a high percentage of them are fatal,” she says. Ward investigated the Colgan Air Flight 3407 crash in February 2009, for example. The commercial airliner crashed into a home in Clarence Center, N.Y., killing all 49 people on board and one in the house. After the investigation, Ward and her colleagues presented their findings to the NTSB board: the accident had been caused by the pilot’s inappropriate response to an approach-to-stall warning, which requires immediate action.
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f and when a plane crashes, reporters are quick to mention the “black box”—the flight-data and cockpit voice recorders. The data recorder tracks specific aircraft-performance parameters, while the voice recorder captures conversations in the cockpit and radio communications between the crew and air traffic control, as well as ambient sounds. For investigators like Ward, the black box (which is, in fact, not black at all but a bright orange) is an important early source of information, helping shape the next stage of action—interviewing crew members’ family and associates.
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worked 12-hour shifts with three days on, three days off. Then she flew to New York to assist the FBI in a similar capacity at Ground Zero.
G “Recordings used to be 30 minutes long, but now they’re two hours. And with a two-hour recording, you get a glimpse into the crew’s personal life sometimes,” she says, and when fatalities are involved, the emotions run high. “It doesn’t get any easier. You listen to somebody’s voice and it’s forever imprinted in your head.” But it’s all part of their determination to make air travel safer. Ward leads her colleagues as they write reports about their findings—the “who, what, when, where, how” and, most importantly, “why” of an incident or accident—and then presents safety and engineering recommendations to NTSB board members as part of a final report. The NTSB chairman then issues a comprehensive letter listing recommendations to the FAA administrator and other organizations. The NTSB typically issues from 22 to 25 safety recommendations as a direct result of an investigation of a major aviation accident, all opportunities to tell a broader story about air travel safety, where it fails and how it can be enhanced. Ward and her colleagues advocate not only for the traveler, but also airline employees, pilots and all those who share responsibility in ensuring that passengers arrive safely at their destinations. Ward’s job sometimes requires her to support investigations led by other agencies, as was the case after 9-11. Because it was a terrorist act, the FBI led the investigation while the NTSB supported those efforts. Ward was working in the NTSB’s Washington, D.C., offices, and could see the smoke billowing across the river after the plane hit the Pentagon. Her first assignment for 9-11 was at the Pentagon, identifying aircraft components, particularly the forward and aft ends of the airplane in order to find the recorders. Their access was limited, however, because the fire department was still assessing the safety of the site. Ward
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iven the nature of her job, one might expect Ward to be filled with businesslike intensity, yet friends would call her even-tempered and surprisingly funny. And they’d also say she has a passion for planes. She earned her private pilot’s license at age 20 before transferring to Auburn from Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, Wash. It was then that Ward set her sights on becoming a commercial airline pilot and, after that, an astronaut. Her body had other plans, as bouts of motion sickness undid her dreams. “I thought to myself, ‘I bet I wouldn’t do well in zero gravity,’” she laughs. She fought through the misery, though, logging the hours needed to complete flight-school training. Determined to continue working with airplanes in some way, Ward switched majors to engineering, taking an interest in design and repair and graduating with a bachelor’s in aerospace engineering in 1990 and a master’s in 1992. Her first job was as a civilian aerospace engineer for the Navy, working on F-14 Tomcat fighters and the EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft. A few years later, she joined the NTSB as a structural engineer, putting aircraft back together and examining components to determine the cause of a structural failure. It was a skill that was to pay dividends for her career. Ward worked in this capacity on Alaska Airlines Flight 261, which crashed into the Pacific Ocean in January 2000 after the failure of a stabilization component due to inadequate maintenance. The crash, which took place 2.7 miles north of Anacapa Island, Calif., killed two pilots, three cabin-crew members and 83 passengers. In May 2001, she was promoted to investigator-in-charge. Now, as one of the nation’s leading aviation crash experts, Ward has been profiled by National Public Radio and Parade magazine, though the aerospace engineering faculty at Auburn recall her not from media coverage but from her days as their student. She still keeps in touch with John Cochran, former department head in aerospace engineering, passing along job openings and opportunities from D.C. or wherever her current project happens to take her.’ “I ran into [faculty member] David Cicci in D.C. not too long ago,” she recalls. “He remembered that I had taken his class nearly 20 years ago!” It was a moment that, for Ward, best characterizes Auburn, the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and the aerospace engineering faculty. “For me, there’s nothing quite like playing flag football on the nation’s mall, wearing my best Auburn gear and hearing someone say ‘War Eagle’ as they walk by. “It really takes you back when somebody says that, and home doesn’t seem so far away.” No matter how far she has to travel.
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Brenton Johnson ’97 owns one of the South’s largest CSA farms and is a rock-star mentor to newbie organic farmers amid the hippie vibe of Austin, Texas. It all began at Auburn with the Grateful Dead and a killer grilled cheese sandwich. by robyn ross with photos by tommy lavergne
What a long, strange trip it’s been
the beat-up pickup truck bumps along the dirt road on Brenton Johnson’s organic vegetable farm outside Austin, Texas. A warm breeze carries the rich smells of the Colorado River and freshly turned dirt through the cab’s open windows. The setting is serene, but Johnson is a ball of energy. He points out the vegetables he’ll sell at the farmers market or to local restaurants: broccoli, kale, dill, parsley, celeriac, parsnips and carrots. He brakes next to the lettuce. “Don’t those look good? Wait.” He puts the truck in park, hops out and pulls a head of lettuce from the soil. Back in the cab, he tears off a leaf and pops it into his mouth. “When I made the choice to farm full time, I jumped into this with full enthusiasm,” he says, grinning and chewing. “Now I’m really happy, I’m working with amazing people, and in Austin you get to be a rock-star farmer. I’m doing the most fun thing I could ever want to do.” This 200-acre property east of town is one of two farms that make up Johnson’s Backyard Garden, a misleadingly humble name for one of the largest community-supported agriculture farms in the South. Since Johnson’s full-time commitment to
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farming in 2008, he’s established his environmental and foodie credentials in a town that takes both seriously. But the young farmer’s enterprise began less than a decade ago in a 30-by-50foot plot behind his house. At the time he thought it was just a hobby—until he discovered his dream job in his own backyard. Johnson grew up in Enterprise, a skateboarder among farm boys. He fol- Brenton Johnson isn’t “out standing in lowed in his father’s footsteps to Auburn just his field.” He’s redein 1993, where he began as a mechani- fining the field, both cal engineering major. He also complet- through JBG Organics online. By visiting ed an informal education in music and and www.jbgorganic.com, entrepreneurship, taking time off to fol- foodies and farm fans low the Grateful Dead in a 1963 Volk- can find the week’s CSA shareholder swagen bus he’d bought for $50 and re- yields, see photos built from scratch. He financed his trips of the farm, discover and catch up by selling sandwiches outside the con- recipes with Johnson and his certs—bread and cheese were cheap but family through his blog, “The Daily Dirt tasted great fresh from a Coleman grill. “I’d set up in the parking lot and yell, Farm Log.”
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‘Hot and sexy garlic grilled cheese sandwiches, get ’em while they’re hot! Guaranteed to burn your fingers off!’” he recalls. As his senior year at Auburn approached, he worried that his major no longer fit his burgeoning environmental mindset. A pivotal 1995 meeting with engineering’s then-dean William Walker (later Auburn president) set him on a new path. “I’d had this revelation that I wanted to do something that people would really need and that would be in harmony with my beliefs,” Johnson recalls. “I asked him, ‘What can I do where I wouldn’t be hurting the environment, damming rivers or tearing up forests? What kind of job is a job you can feel good about?’” “I had long hair and a beard and was a Deadhead, and he probably thought I’d broken on through to the other side.” But Walker had an idea, suggesting Johnson switch majors from mechanical to agricultural engineering. He took classes in horticulture and commercial vegetable production and worked in Auburn’s organic garden. At graduation in 1997, he looked at farming internships, but his grandmother, Mama Nell, encouraged a more practical choice. “She said, ‘Brent, you can apply for hippie organic farm jobs if you want to, but at least please apply
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for real jobs too, because we saved up money for your college education, and now you’re an engineer.’” So he took her advice, embarking on a 10-year career in natural-resource management, doing water conservation for the federal government. A few years after his job took him to Austin, in 2001, his interests in agriculture and entrepreneurship resurfaced. Johnson had reconnected with Beth, his high school sweetheart, and the couple married and moved into the central Austin house where Brenton planted the backyard garden. Before long, his “hobby” had filled not only the backyard but the front and side yards, too. A compost pile and chicken coop took up more space. The couple’s children no longer had a place to play. “I had a tire swing and would push the kids out over the garden. My wife was like, ‘This is ridiculous! You’ve taken over the whole yard.’” The couple decided to see if they could sell vegetables at the nearby farmers market. Johnson covered the table with the old batik cloth he’d used under his Coleman grill back in college
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and piled it high with kale, broccoli and collard greens. “It was just like being at a Grateful Dead concert selling grilled cheese sandwiches. The only part I forgot was figuring out how much to charge. So I told people to pay me what they thought the vegetables were worth. “I came home and called Mama Nell and said ‘You won’t believe it. I just sold $100 of vegetables out of my yard!’ She was like, ‘Are you sure you were selling vegetables?’” He grins. “I was a Deadhead, so she probably thought I was selling something else.” The next year, he started a CSA (community-supported agriculture) program—a subscription service in which customers pay a fee that covers a portion of a farm’s operating costs and in return receive a share of the produce. The farm, in this case, was his yard. Community-supported agriculture has been around since the 1980s but has picked up steam in the U.S. in the last decade. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that there are now more than 12,500 CSA farms around the country. After that early success, Johnson’s aspirations extended past his backyard. He searched for land on Craigslist and found a 60-acre parcel just outside town. It was perfect—except that it cost $2.2 million. He went to see it anyway. Driving by the property next door on Hergotz Lane, he spotted an older woman sitting on her front porch. On a whim, he introduced himself and explained that he was looking to turn his garden into a full-fledged farm. “She asked me if I wanted to drive around, so we did,” Johnson says. Without being asked, the woman offered to sell her 20 acres to Johnson for a bargain. He accepted, found an inexpensive mobile home (also on Craigslist) and moved the family to Hergotz Lane. In 2008 he quit his job to farm full time.
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uck has played a role in Johnson’s success, but business sense and a willingness to take risks have been just as important. “What sets him apart is he’s not just a farmer, he’s a really smart business person,” says Johnson’s Backyard Garden manager Carrie Kenny, the enterprise’s first employee. When she started working for JBG, the farm had 100 CSA members. Now it has well over a thousand in two cities, as well as a presence at all the local farmers markets and a thriving wholesale business with local restaurants and grocers, including Whole Foods. “I’ve been amazed at how flexible the business has been,” she says. “Brenton is someone who’s always thinking and really wants employees to offer creative solutions. And he’s done what a lot of other farms haven’t done, which is take a lot of risk.” To buy the Hergotz Lane farm and invest in equipment, Johnson had to take on debt. But his CSA members helped pitch in, and his dedication earned the trust of another investor. Michael Klug first met Johnson while volunteering on the farm with his teenage sons. Klug and his wife had been looking for a way to invest in land that their family could use recreationally but that could also offer some kind of social benefit.
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The solution appeared when the couple found the 200 acres that became Johnson’s second farm on River Road. Klug bought the first 50 acres and sold 40 of them to Johnson, having first prepared the land for farming by drilling wells and installing irrigation and power. Johnson eventually bought the remaining 150 acres and paid back the Klugs, who now escape to their 10 acres of riverfront property surrounded by an organic farm. “Our intention was not to make a bunch of money,” Klug says. “It was to get a reasonable return on our investment— kind of a ‘slow money’ idea—in exchange for helping out this farmer and ourselves. We were willing to take on the risk because we had confidence from working with him for two years as volunteers, and knowing how driven he was and that he was going to follow through.” To Mary Ellen Holliman ’05, the organic certification coordinator at the Texas Department of Agriculture, Johnson’s work ethic is the embodiment of the Auburn Creed: I believe that this is a practical world and that I can count only on what I earn. Therefore, I believe in work, hard work. “It’s amazing how that phrase rings true,” says Holliman, who makes sure JBG is compliant with organic regulations. “Within five years, Brenton went from a very small startup to one of the largest organic fresh-produce operations in the state. And it’s not because he had the most acreage, or the most savings and investments; it was because he wasn’t afraid to go out, beat the pavement and get people interested in his product and make a name for himself.” Now, Johnson has his own plan to give back. He and Kenny
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came up with the idea of FarmShare Austin, a nonprofit that will tackle the challenges facing local agriculture. Johnson plans to set aside two acres of the smaller Hergotz Lane farm as a teaching laboratory, where new farmers can learn how to grow vegetables and experienced ones can research organic-farming techniques. The produce will be donated to people who wouldn’t otherwise get fresh vegetables. One facet of the nonprofit will be a curriculum-based training program for new farmers. Beginning next year, five to 10 students will spend six months learning not just how to raise organic vegetables but also how to find land, get loans and expand their business. It’s the kind of entrepreneurial education that’s usually not available at the “hippie organic farm” internships Johnson considered after Auburn. “Most farm experiences are focused on helping a farm, rather than education,” he explains. “This farm is different in that its focus is on education and research, and all the food that’s grown will be donated to local charities. The whole purpose is to give young people who want to learn farming an opportunity to learn on a small scale, organically, and make a living doing that.” But you can’t farm without land. Much of the fertile farming soil east of Austin is at risk of being lost, either to development or to gravel mining. The Hergotz farm is in a bend of the river that’s called the Dog’s Head for its resemblance to a Labrador’s profile. The area used to be a prime agricultural area, particularly for spinach production, because of its flatness and fertile soils. In the past few decades, much of the land has been excavated for sand and gravel for construction projects like roads, highrises and the nearby Formula 1 racing track. “On the Dog’s Head we’ve got my farm and the 60 acres next to it, and just about every bit of the land around it has been dug up,” Johnson says. “It reminds me of the Dr. Seuss book The Lorax.” FarmShare Austin wants not only to save land from destruction, but to make it financially accessible to young farmers. Board member Klug hopes the organization can enable other farmers to make purchases similar to his deal with Johnson. “Brenton is well on his way as a farmer and successful businessman, but the issue is that we need more of him,” Klug says. “If
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will come from all local farms—not just JBG—and farmers will get full price. “It’s a win-win-win,” Kenny says. “People want to contribute to something like that; farmers benefit because they’re getting full price for their vegetables; and more people are getting vegetables. FarmShare is filling the monetary gap that currently makes them inaccessible.”
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you’re creative and driven like Brenton is, we want to make sure you can get some land of your own.” Farmers and their land are only part of the equation. To expand the local food system, more consumers need access to the vegetables grown on those farms. For many people in Austin, locally grown, organic produce is geographically or financially out of reach. Kenny and Johnson are thinking creatively about how to get organic vegetables onto tables throughout the city. They’re working with school and company cafeterias. Through a partnership with the University of Texas School of Public Health, JBG has provided vegetables at a reduced cost for a farmers market outside a low-income elementary school. The market is a pilot program that could expand to more schools with the produce grown on FarmShare’s two acres. Eventually, FarmShare will make CSA subscriptions available to lower-income families by allowing existing customers to donate when they sign up for their own subscription. The CSA produce
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n an overcast spring morning in Austin, activity starts at the farm well before 8. Dressed in work clothes and a sweat-stained JBG cap, pausing occasionally for a swig of coffee from a mason jar, Johnson checks on various farm projects. Kenny is working on this week’s blog post for the website (jgborganic.com), and a couple of employees need Johnson’s input about the placement of a new barn door. Beth Johnson, her hands full of fresh produce, stops by for a minute to chat about the kids’ soccer schedules. A nurse, Beth Johnson works the night shift on weekends, which makes spending time together as a family the hardest thing about the Johnsons’ new lifestyle. “It’s worth it in the end,” she says. “The kids know where their food comes from. They can eat fresh vegetables out of the ground and recognize that’s an important part of life.” “The kids” are Lila, 13; Drew, 9; Ada, 7; and Jimmy, In addition to the mem5. Already an entrepreneur, 1,000-plus bers of JBG’s CSA Lila takes care of the 20 program, the farm’s chickens and collects their vegetables are sold at 14 farmers markets eggs to sell at a local farmers each week in the market. On Saturdays she Austin area. Available week of July 22? helps set up the JBG booth the Eggplant, arugula, onand run the cash register. ions, basil, potatoes, With wry amusement, Johnson re- cucumbers, squash, sweet and hot members his Auburn-era desire to work carrots, peppers and okra. on a farm that used only human power. He’s had to shelve some of those ideals, but pragmatism has had other benefits: JBG recently began offering health insurance to its 80-plus employees. “I don’t want to give up my utopian vision of farming, but what’s allowing me to start something like FarmShare was the path I took to having a larger farm,” he says. “If I was at that really small scale where I was working with tighter cash flow and fewer resources, I wouldn’t be able to even think of doing something like this. “If you’re just trying to survive, all you’re going to do is try to feed yourself. But if you have a little bit extra, maybe you’ll do a little art. I have a little time to think creatively and do something I think would be helpful to others. So this is my way of doing a little art.”
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Caught between the natural beauty and dusty squalor of Quito, nursing and building science students
donate time, solutions and a few
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Life, no fences Dina* sits in a small, crowded medical clinic in Quito, Ecuador, clutching her tightly wrapped blouse and dark, pleated skirt around her. She keeps her eyes trained on the floor. If no one makes eye contact, she thinks, no one will talk to her. Most of the voices around her chatter in Spanish or English, but Dina speaks only the native dialect of her Quichua people. When Dina is finally examined by the nurses—Auburn University nursing students, professors, faculty members and alumni who work in Quito each spring break—they are shocked to find the girl, barely 15 years old, is eight months pregnant. Ashamed, she has bound her torso so tightly that she has been able to hide her condition. Dina begins to cry as she tells the nurses her story. She had been raped and had no relationship with the child’s father. She is too young to be a mother. She has no way to care for a baby. Over the course of the week, the nurses find the girl’s mother and grandmother, set up a medical exam to find out if the baby is still alive (it is) and pool their own funds to help her out. They pull together $220. In Quito, it is enough to pay for the baby’s delivery and provide Dina enough supplies to care for her child.
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PHOTOGRAPHY B Y J E F F E T H E RI DGE
Right: Childhood in Quito, Ecuador, is worlds away, figuratively and literally, from that experienced by most Auburn students. But each spring, faculty and students in nursing and building science visit Ecuador for nine days of cultural immersion, construction and clinical work in health care for women and children. For the residents of Quito, the students bring comfort, innovation and a few lessons on how to say “War Eagle.”
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or the past seven years, a team from the Auburn School of Nursing has traveled to Quito during spring break to provide much-needed medical care, but those aren’t the city’s only needs. Four years ago, Auburn’s McWhorter School of Building Science joined the project, sending 10 students to work alongside Ecuadorians in building daycare centers at local churches to ensure children have a place to go after school. Since many women work full time and their children attend school for only halfdays, the mothers will often tie the children inside their home, which is safer for them than being on the street without an adult. On the Auburn campus, building science and nursing students might never cross paths, but for one week each year, these two disparate fields of study come together over the common cause of improving lives. The departments work with Servants in Faith and Technology, or SIFAT, a missionary program in Lineville. Nursing faculty members Kathy Jo Ellison and Karol Renfroe credit the safety and success of the trip to SIFAT’s groundwork in Quito before the participants arrive. Part of the advance work is establishing relationships with local Ecuadorians the Auburn group will help throughout the week. This year, the building science students spent the week working with an engineer, Edwin, and a foreman known as the Maestro. Although they do not speak the same language, building science student Michaela Tanksley said it became easy to recognize when the Maestro wanted her to change technique from his cries of, “No bueno! No bueno! No bueno!” Senior Kyle Beason also discovered that Edwin spoke more English than he let on. He didn’t like to talk much so he would sometimes claim to not understand, but Beason would later hear him say the same thing. The bond with the Ecuadorians transcended words, however, and the students say they developed a deep amount of respect for both men by the end of the trip. Other Ecuadorians took care of the students. The women of the local churches, for example, provided lunch for them each day—and sometimes more. When the women discovered it was building science associate professor Ben Farrow’s birthday, they created a masterpiece of a cake, elaborately decorated with different types of fruit. “The meals were incredible,” he says. “I tell people you can taste the love and appreciation in the food.” Most of the meals were traditional Ecuadorian fare, usually built around rice or potatoes, but on the last day the students were treated to an Ecuadorian delicacy, guinea pig. Farrow said most of the students tried it. In fact, he says the students are eager to try new experiences, reflecting the Auburn culture that encourages an underlying sense of care, concern and respect for others. Rightw: Among the Sometimes that concern is shown citizens of Quito and its environs are the through long hours on the job. “We go Quichua, the largest there to help people, so we really want indigenous population existence. They now to help,” he says, and the students make in dominate rural populano complaints about working additional tions of both Peru and Ecuador. More than 9 hours to get the job done. people in South For most of the students, this work million America speak some is all about the kids—children who need form of the Quichua safe places to play and children who language.
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need access to health care. Local children visit the building science students while they’re working, try to follow the buses transporting the students back to their hotel, and play games with them during breaks. “All they want to do is play all day, just like the kids here,” Beason says. Tanksley formed a special bond with one young girl, who told her on the last day that they will always be sisters. Caleb Cooper ’09, a former Auburn cheerleader who continues to accompany the nursing students on their trips, became a fast favorite by doing backflips in the courtyard during downtime. “The kids literally looked at him like he was Superman,” Renfroe recalls, adding that the nursing students also taught the children a new skill. “Caleb would backflip through the courtyards and then they’d say, ‘Waaaar Eagle!’” There are poignant moments, too. Building science professor Scott Kramer and others among the Auburn group went back to visit a church they had worked on their first year in Quito. Through an interpreter, the pastor’s wife eloquently thanked them for coming to Quito and helping build their beautiful church. Kramer says she and the congregation truly understand why the students are spending their spring break serving others, instead of going on vacation to the beach. She also understood the fact that Auburn students spend a lot of their own money to come to Quito and make a difference. The pastor’s wife was the only person not crying during her testimony.
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“Can you imagine a family that has to live on $400 a month, that’s their family income, being able to comprehend a student spending $2,000 to fly to their country to help build their church?” Kramer asked. What the pastor’s wife might not have understood is how much the students get from the experience—not just the satisfaction of helping others, but critical-thinking skills sharpened by working in a different environment. Those skills follow the students back to the classroom and into a job setting as nursing students learn how to cope with treating patients who present them not only with language barriers but resource challenges. The building science students learn to solve problems they wouldn’t normally face at home, such as how to move a 90-pound bag of cement without a lift. Or how to design and organize a child-safe play area that might only be as large as the local Starbucks yet provides space for dozens of children.
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n their first year, Kramer recalls, the building science students had to construct a circular concrete column using only scrap tongue-andgroove wood flooring for the formwork. After a day of deliberation, the students built two halfcircle forms, which they erected vertically and poured concrete inside to create a column. This
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year, when the group revisited the job site, they discovered the locals had saved the wooden forms in case they needed to reuse them. “You’d never do that in the United States,” says Kramer. “There are cheaper, more economical ways to do it, but that wasn’t the purpose. The purpose for us was to go down there and help them, using what they had.” It isn’t uncommon to hear the students, after their return from Ecuador and back on the Auburn campus, to say how much they learned not only about the country and how to solve problems creatively—but about themselves. For senior Ashley Pigg, the experience changed her perspective. As a nurse, she knows she’ll be able to examine her patients without preconceptions, understanding how different his or her life might be from her own. She recalls treating a woman with chronic shoulder pain, which she described as bothering her constantly. Two days later she came back, hugged Pigg and thanked her, explaining that the pain was completely gone and what a difference it had already made in her life. Pigg had provided the woman with a rare commodity in that community— acetaminophen, or Tylenol. The power of the Quito experience lies in its simplicity, Renfroe says. In our healthcare culture, students live in a very high-tech world. But in Ecuador, the impact of how much help the nurses can provide with simple tools and modest supplies is grounding. “It’s seeing the power of your hands, and your eyes, and your ears, and your willingness, and to see the transformation you can make for someone with those simple gifts and talents of yourself. To me the power of that is incredible,” Renfroe says. Take Dina, for example. The pregnant teen who showed up at the beginning of the week returned to visit before they left. This time, she looked them in the eye and instead of crying, she smiled. “I want to tell you that we’re going to name the baby Paz,” she says. “It means peace.” *Name has been changed for privacy.
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AUBURN CLUBS
The mission of the Circle of Excellence Society is to award scholarships to future generations of Auburn alumni, specifically children of life members of the Auburn Alumni Association. Established in 2005, the number of Circle of Excellence-awarded alumni scholarships has been rising steadily; the association awarded 99 scholarships to children of life members during the 2013-14 academic year. The association offers its sincerest gratitude to members of the Circle of Excellence Society.* For more information on how to be a part of the Circle of Excellence, contact Steve Inabet at steveinabinet@auburn.edu or 334-844-2995. SUSTAINING DIAMOND $5,000 + $500 min. annually
Lynne Hawkins Boucher ’77 Steven A. Boucher ’77 Holly Helms Byrd ’80 Georgia Ann Boutwell ’81 Burt Cloud ’66 Sherry Grace Cloud ’67 Burke Cox ’93 Heather Cox ’93 Rod Michael Duraski ’76 Laura H. Fite ’86 William Jackson Fite ’85 Margaret Long Forsythe ’81 Phillip Alan Forsythe ’81 Nancy Young Fortner ’71 Robert David Fortner ’73 Robert Edwin Hicks ’86 Stephanie Lynn Hicks Steven D. Inabet ’78 Lisa Denise Page Robert “Bobby” Poundstone IV ’95 B.T. Roberts ’72 Gale Roberts Robert W. Schorr ’61 Kurt Joseph Sehn ’94 Debbie L. Shaw ’84 William “Bill” Stone ’85 Jane Copeland Walley ’62 William C. Walley ’62
DIAMOND $5,000
Ashley Agrelius K.C. Davis Agrelius ’88 John Glasgow Blackwell ’64 David E. Brown Teresa M. Brown Owen Brown ’64 Deborah Hopkins Carter ’72 Tanya Densmore Christensen ’80 Walton T. Conn Jr. ’85 Nick Davis ’84 Elmer B. Harris ’62
Glenda S. Harris ’61 Charles D. Hart ’85 William C. Haskell Jr. ’71 Andrew P. Hornsby Jr. ’68 James M. Hoskins ’81 Bertha T. Hoskins ’80 Eve Schlesinger Jordan James Ralph Jordan Jr. ’70 Arthur M. Leadingham Jr. ’77 Don Logan ’66 James Ralph Jordan Jr. ’70 Arthur M. Leadingham Jr. ’77 Don Logan ’66 James E. Martin ’54 Anna Freeman Martin ’57 Douglas E. Pritchet Dana Fortner Robicheaux ’74 Robert A. Robicheaux Ann Bendinger Rundquist ’76 Paul J. Spina, Jr. ’63 Bena Spina Paula C. Steigerwald ’76 Jane T. Upshaw ’69 Mike A. Watson ’69 C. Dent Williams ’67 Ken C. Williams ’79 Deborah A. Williams ’79
ORANGE & BLUE $2,500–$4,999
Dennis R. Bailey ’75 Kathy Goodwin Byrd ’89 William C. Byrd II ’89 Neil Edward Christopher ’55 John Matthew Dasis Jr. ’86 Ann Adams Galbreath ’74 Hank Galbreath ’76 Carrie Roberts Griffin Michael Ray Griffin ’96 Van Henley ’80 Charles R. Horton ’65 Michael Ray Ingram ’87 David Glenn Johnson ’74 Donna L. Johnson Catherine V. Killebrew ’69 Lester Killebrew Sr. ’68
Emma Jean McKinley ’55 Desmond L. Merrill Jr. ’65 Janet E. Mertz ’91 Howard B. Nelson Jr. ’69 Tina Buckley Nelson Kevin Thomas Rodgers William D. Nelson Sr. ’62 Cynthia L. Ayers Sahlie ’85 M. Clark Sahlie ’88 Don L. Sollie ’74 David Strain ’69 John M. Trotman Sr. ’49 Elizabeth Payne Word ’55 Robert D. Word Jr. ’55 Robert “Don” Word III ’81
ORANGE $1,000–$2,499
Douglas Lee Acton ’77 James Chesley Allred III ’86 Martha Cash Allred ’86 Belinda P. Ballard ’82 Vernell Edwin Barnes ’75 Jere L. Beasley Sr. ’59 Sara Baker Beasley ’61 Ms. Gene Culver Beck ’62 Boaz Discount Drug, Inc. Marc Anthony Bonifacic ’96 Patrick Sullivan Bright ’02 Rebecca Roy Cazana ’69 Carl Compton ’52 Kristina Dominique Conner Marcus Ferez Conner ’99 William O. Cowart ’58 Lillian Belle Cross ’65 Laurie M. Dasher ’89
Roger C. Dill ’58 Kenneth Hayward Dunn ’86 Ronald D. Dyson ’01 Timothy Ray Easterling ’95 Kenneth L. Farmer Jr. ’72 Patricia Riley Farmer ’72 Sandra McAlister Fisher ’59 Jamie Freeman ’65 Mack Freeman ’65 Courtney W. Giles ’99 Roy Lee Gilreath Jr. ’81 Barbara Daughtry Gosser ’60 Harvey Stephen Gosser ’62 James H. Ham III ’66 Randy Joe Ham ’73 Rosemary Cook Ham ’72 Jason Brent Hanchey ’98 C. Dean Hansen ’49 Elmer Carlton Hill ’49 David Emerson Housel ’69 Susan McIntosh Housel ’73 Cary Dale Johnson ’69 John Dee Johnson Jr. ’88 Kim Floyd Johnson ’88 Robert Roy Jones III ’74 Sam David Knight ’94 John Langford ’53 Michael Deron Matthews ’94 Tanja Matthews ’92 J Dean Metz ’86 Lisa B. Mitchell ’88 Cheryll Mullin Richard W. Mullin Jr. ’75 Dawn LaTasha Oliver ’97 E. Wycliffe Orr Sr. ’68 Lyn H. Orr Laurie Beth Patrick ’83 Donna P. Porter William “Bill” E. Porter ’57 Don Watson Powell ’60 Sissy Proctor Patrick Stewart Proctor ’95 Gerald O’Neal Reynolds ’77 Allen C. Rice ’68 Nancy K. Rice
Clifford Edward Roberts ’71 Flavil H. Roberts Jr. ’57 Alicia Hailey Rudolph ’90 Robert K. Rudolph Arthur N. Ryan ’69 Karen Saliba Richard Saliba Ben E. Satterwhite III ’75 Hugh B. Segrest Jr. ’50 Cindi J. Seidel ’82 Diane Stinson Sellers ’68 George Anthony Smith ’75 Carmen Gandy Sneed ’94 George Oliver Sneed Jr. ’96 Mary Beth Sprayberry ’93 Scott Sprayberry ’93 Robert R. Sternenberg ’42 Douglas M. Stoker ’64 Jeffrey I. Stone ’79 Gwendolyn C. Swingle ’55 William F. Tait III ’96 Earl Gaines Thomas ’72 K-Rob Thomas ’01 Linda Pritchett Thomas ’72 Mark H. Thomas ’95 Martha Williams Thompson ’80 Thomas Melvin Thornton ’65 Deborah Freeman Wade ’91 Earl S. Wallace Jr. ’57 Barbara Wallace-Edwards ’79 Diane Wampold Edward L. Wampold ’53 Thomas B. Watkins ’78 Kinn Webb ’82 Lynn Southern Webb ’82 Carol Haile Wells ’77 Norajill Norman Winstead ’80 Emily Corcoran Woste ’57 Samuel M. Wylie Jr. ’50 Lillian Auten Yates ’80 * Names in bold indicate charter members.
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ALUMNI CENTER
Calendar
A season of change
LOOKING FOR WAR EAGLE TRAVELERS TOURS?
BILL STONE ’85
FRIDAY LECTURE SERIES
President, Auburn Alumni Association War Eagle and Hello! It’s “A New Day” at Auburn. A time of transformation. Transformation is defined as change in form, appearance, nature or character. If there is a “theme” to this issue, it is transformation. Coach Gus Malzahn, through his style, energy, Christian values and HUNH (remember, I taught you that phrase an issue or two ago) offense, and now defense, are set to transform Auburn football. Auburn Athletic Director Jay Jacobs continues to transform our athletics program to provide Auburn University student-athletes the best-possible opportunities for growth and success. On behalf of the Auburn Alumni Association, a big “WAR EAGLE” and welcome to our new baseball coach, Sunny Golloway, and to our new softball coach, Clint Myers. We all look forward to seeing you at the ballpark. My friend, Auburn University Board of Trustees member and Auburn Alumni Association life member Raymond Harbert’s very generous, and largest in Auburn history, gifts will transform our Auburn University Raymond J. Harbert College of Business into one of the premier schools of business education in the entire country. (THANK YOU, RAYMOND!) Plus, this edition of Auburn Magazine features three articles with a transformational element. As your Auburn Alumni Association Board of Directors met this summer to set about the strategic initiatives for the coming years, it occurs to me that these discussions are also transformational: how the association transforms and grows as we look into a crystal ball (even better, the 2010 BCS National Championship crystal football!) and anticipate our needs and goals for the years ahead. I encourage you to contact me and share how we may better serve you, and our Auburn Family. How can you help transform Auburn University?
See the listings on Page 52.
• If you are already giving back to Auburn, consider directing those gifts to benefit future Auburn students. We are still behind nearly all of our SEC brethren in scholarships. Join our Auburn Alumni Association Circle of Excellence and be a part of scholarship awards to children of other life members of the association. • Start a new culture of giving. Remember the joys of your time at Auburn, and for the career opportunities you now enjoy because of your Auburn education. Wouldn’t you like to share that with future generations of Auburn students? • Connect with your local Auburn Club! This key element of the alumni association provides a direct, energized connection to Auburn wherever you may be. Other than being at Jordan-Hare, there’s no better way to support our Tigers than at a game-watching party with one of our 98 Auburn Clubs! Personally, this is also a time of transition. As you all have walked with me over the last two years, you know of my wife Lisa’s gallant fight with cancer that concluded with her heavenly home-going. God has provided for me, and my son, Trey, new partners as we move to the next chapter of His plan. I would like to introduce you to Marian Haynie Stone. Marian’s husband, Ed, shortly preceded Lisa to heaven after a similarly brave cancer fight. I have been blessed to again have a Godly wife and partner to share my walk with. Marian is a fanatical member of our Auburn Family, as well as her children, Adrian, Class of ’02, and Brant (Katie), Class of ’06 (a member of our 2004 undefeated football team), and his children Ellis, Class of 2033, and Eddy, Class of 2034. I wish to us all an exciting fall season of transition. God bless, and WAR EAGLE!
Enhance your football weekend experience with free lectures by faculty and alumni experts at the Auburn Alumni Center, 4 p.m. on homegame Fridays. Aug. 31 FOOTBALL: AUBURN VS. WASHINGTON STATE
Join us three hours prior to the 6 p.m. kickoff at the Alumni Hospitality Tent on the Wallace Center lawn. Visit aualum.org/tent for details. Sept. 7 FOOTBALL: AUBURN VS. ARKANSAS STATE
Join us three hours prior to the 6:30 p.m. kickoff at the Alumni Hospitality Tent on the Wallace Center lawn. Visit aualum.org/tent for details. Sept. 14 FOOTBALL: AUBURN VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE
Join us three hours prior to the 6 p.m. kickoff at the Alumni Hospitality Tent on the Wallace Center lawn. Visit aualum.org/tent for details. Oct. 5 FOOTBALL: AUBURN VS. OLE MISS
Join us three hours prior to kickoff at the Alumni Hospitality Tent on the Wallace Center lawn. Visit aualum.org/tent for details. Oct. 12 FOOTBALL: AUBURN VS. WESTERN CAROLINA
Homecoming. Join us three hours prior to kickoff at the Alumni Hospitality Tent on the Wallace Center lawn. Visit aualum.org/tent for details. Oct. 26 FOOTBALL: AUBURN VS. FLORIDA ATLANTIC
Join us three hours prior to kickoff at the Alumni Hospitality Tent on the Wallace Center lawn. Visit aualum.org/tent for details. Nov. 16 FOOTBALL: AUBURN VS. GEORGIA
Join us three hours prior to kickoff at the Alumni Hospitality Tent on the Wallace Center lawn. Visit aualum.org/tent for details. Nov. 30 FOOTBALL: AUBURN VS. ALABAMA
BillStone@auburnalum.org
Join us three hours prior to kickoff at the Alumni Hospitality Tent on the Wallace Center lawn. Visit aualum.org/tent for details.
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Calendar WAR EAGLE TRAVELERS: UPCOMING TOURS
Travel with your fellow Auburn alumni on the following tours. For more details, visit aualum.org/travel or call 334-844-1443. Nov. 12-17, 2013 THE POLAR BEARS OF CHURCHILL
Enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience on this sixday expedition to see the Polar Bears of Churchill. Organized by Orbridge, the trip allows you to respectfully observe from the safety and comfort of a custom-designed Tundra Buggy as the polar bears make their annual descent to the small seaport of Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. Fully guided by an Orbridge expedition leader, this program also includes fascinating field presentations, exploration into the local history and culture of the region and a dog sledding experience. Starting at $4,995. Dec. 2-10, 2013 CLASSIC CHRISTMAS MARKETS
Sip mulled wine and collect unique handicrafts, handmade ornaments and toys at some of the largest and most famous Christmas markets in Europe. Spend three nights in the traditional Alpine Village of Oberammergau and two nights in the heart of the Black Forest. Bask in holiday cheer as you stroll along the cobblestone streets of Innsbruck, capital of Tyrolean Austria. Visit historic, medieval Nuremberg, Wurzburg and Rothenberg, some of the best-preserved medieval towns in Europe. View the fairy tale Neuschwanstein Castle nestled in the heart of mountainous Bavaria. Explore Strasbourg’s Petit France and its quaint market stalls huddled around the imposing cathedral. Don’t miss the great pricing and good availability; book your seats now. From $2,899 (includes air). Feb. 4-22, 2014 ASIAN WONDERS
Encounter timeless Asian wonders as you cruise to the exotic ports of East Asia on board the deluxe Oceania Cruises Nautica. Discover ancient sites, stunning landscapes and unique cities with stops in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and China on this unforgettable voyage. Don’t miss the great pricing and good availability, book your seats now. From $6,299 (includes air).
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A sweet Auburn summer DEBBIE SHAW ’84
Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Executive Director, Auburn Alumni Association Despite all the hard rain we have received over the state this summer, Auburn is still a sweet place to be in the hot summer months. Even with the Auburn student population cut approximately in half, the campus and city remain vibrant with people and activities. Summer is the time of the year Auburn Clubs hold their annual meetings all throughout the nation. Our staff has been busy traveling to be a part of the fun. Beginning three years ago, a new “two for one” program was initiated, which provides a free membership in your local club if you are a member of the Auburn Alumni Association. Take advantage of your membership and get involved in your club today. It is a great way to connect with other members of the Auburn family, to network, and to promote our great university in your area. As a member of the association, I want you to know we are working hard to bring value to your membership. The magazine remains, according to surveys, the No. 1 benefit. New editor Suzanne Johnson, who served as associate editor for six years, is a national award-winning writer with more than 30 years of experience in alumni publications. Also new to our alumni affairs team is Jessica King ’02, who was selected as the director of alumni communications and marketing, Audrey Matthews ’12 and Kylee Thomas ’13. In what other ways are your dues being used? Your investment in the alumni association is an investment in Auburn University. Your dues are being used frugally and in ways that make a powerful impact on the programs and services we provide.
As the fall semester begins, the association is proud to have offered scholarships to almost 200 students, including awards offered by our clubs. We provide financial awards to faculty who excel in teaching and research. We offer financial support to Auburn Clubs whose members are doing amazing work in their local areas to promote Auburn, recruit students, coordinate philanthropy projects and raise money for student scholarships. The alumni association offers career guidance on its website. Group travel is available to take trips around the world with other alumni. An online network community is available for you. There are opportunities for reunions and free admission to the Alumni Hospitality Tent before each home game. This fall we are cosponsoring “Autumn Nights” for the second consecutive year. This encompasses three Friday night block parties held in downtown Auburn with late-night shopping, bands and dining. Admission is free and everyone is welcome. It’s a great opportunity to welcome alumni back to Auburn. It’s a good time to be a member of the Auburn Alumni Association. For annual members, I hope you’ll renew your membership this year. For life members, I encourage you to think about sustaining membership. See our list of Circle of Excellence members on Page 50 of this issue; these are life members who have chosen to continue to give to the association in ways that make a big difference. We appreciate all of our members, and I am grateful for your support. Together, we can make great things happen for AU. War Eagle!
debbieshaw@auburn.edu
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Calendar GOT NEWS? Auburn Magazine 317 S. College Street Auburn University, AL 36849-5149, or aubmag@auburn.edu Life Member Annual Member
’60-’69
has been very widely used throughout the computing industry for interconnecting peripheral devices. Dugas has 22 patents granted by the U.S. Patent Office. He and his wife, Anne, are both retired and live in Schroon Lake, N.Y. David Kahn ’69 was
’64 retired from the U.S.
recently recognized by the National Association of Realtors and its affiliated councils for his 44 years of service to the real estate industry with the following designations: realtor emeritus, certified residential specialist emeritus and certified residential broker emeritus. His company, David Kahn & Co. Real Estate, serves Alabama’s Greater River Region.
John Stickney ’64,
a semi-retired consulting engineer, recently published a biography of a Confederate Navy lieutenant, Promotion or the Bottom of the River, with USC Press. He lives in Chapin, S.C., and writes: “An engineer writing a history book?”
’70-’79 Marshall M. “Mac” Nelson ’70 received the
Distinguished Engineer Award at the annual meeting of the Alabama chapter of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. He is retired from the Alabama Natural Resources Conservation Service and lives in Auburn. Michael R. Jones ’73
Robert J. Dugan ’68
has been recognized by IBM Corp. for his contributions to the field of computer virtualization. He coauthored two patents that laid the foundation for virtualization in fiberoptic channel networks, referred to as N_Port ID Virtualization. NPIV
auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, was ordained as a bishop on April 2 after being named by Pope Benedict XVI.
’80-’89 Lawrence “Larry” Hill ’80 has been appointed
Madison “Matt” Gay
Navy in 1995 with the rank of captain after serving as a Navy physician for 23 years. As a dermatologist, he traveled throughout Asia taking care of military patients for the five-plus years he lived in Japan prior to retirement. Since retiring, he has continued to practice medicine at the Orange County Health Department in Orlando, Fla., focusing on the field of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV.
David P. Talley ’76, an
retired from Alabama Power Co. in April after 44 years. He was a supervisor of substationconstruction contractors and inspectors. Rita A. Jones ’73
works as a professor of accounting at Columbus State University in Columbus, Ga.
manager of the Science and Space Technology Projects Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. In his new role, he is responsible for all management aspects of the office, including overseeing the planning, scheduling, resources, support requirements, management systems and personnel for multiple programs and projects. They include the Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hinode project, James Webb Space Telescope and the Astronomical Roentgen Telescope. James E. Flowers Jr. ’81, a private-wealth
adviser in the private banking and investments group at Merrill Lynch in Atlanta, was recently recognized by Barron’s America’s Top 1,000 Advisors. He has worked with Merrill Lynch since 1986, focusing on high-networth clients. Kathy Hoppe ’82, a
science instructor in Spencerport, N.Y., has been selected as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow for 2013-14, one of 27 teachers chosen nation-
wide for this honor. She will be assigned for one year to the National Science Foundation in the engineering-education area, sharing her knowledge and classroom experience to provide practical insight into educational programs and policy efforts. Mark Erb ’84 has been a high school social studies teacher and cross-country and track coach in Georgia for the past 29 years, working in Cartersville, Gwinnett County and Muscogee County. In December 2012, he received the Outstanding Dedication Coaching Award from the Atlanta Track Club and on June 1 of this year was named STAR Teacher at Columbus High School. He retired from Georgia public schools on June 1, but will continue teaching and coaching at the Brookstone School. He and his wife, Judy, life in Salem.
March 16-29, 2014 SAMBA RHYTHMS
Savor the sights and sounds of South America on the luxurious Oceania Cruises Regatta. Buenos Aires offers the perfect point of departure for a journey filled with historical and cultural marvels in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. From $3,999 (includes air).
March 18-28, 2014 MAYAN MYSTIQUE
Discover the Western Caribbean from the comfort of the elegant Oceania Cruises Riviera. Cruise to lush islands and ports in Latin America, ancient lands brimming with culture and natural splendor, where rainforests are dotted with colonial towns and Mayan ruins. From $2,699. April 4-11, 2014 PARIS
Discover the sheer elegance and romance of Paris with its astounding array of world-famous sites: the Louvre, Notre Dame, Palais Garnier and the Eiffel Tower. More of historic France awaits at Versailles, Chartres and the beaches of Normandy. From $2,699.
Bill Wagnon ’84 has been
appointed the first dean of enrollment management at the University of West Alabama. He served as director of marketing and public relations for online programs at the university since last October. He has more than 26 years of experience in marketing, public relations and enrollment communications and services, including 13 years as vice president
April 7-11, 2014 MASTERS
Join the select few who get the opportunity to pass through the gates of Augusta National, golf’s premier sporting event. Enjoy tickets to the selected day’s rounds, gourmet meals and first-class service. From $645. April 8-16, 2014 NORMANDY: THE 70TH ANNIVERSITY OF D-DAY
From your base in Honfleur, France, journey to the D-Day landing beaches, including poignant Omaha Beach, where in 1944 a heroic formation of Allied troops began the invasion that triggered the end of World War II. Led by a historian who can bring the sites to life throughout Normandy and the majestic Mont-Saint-Michel. From $2,795.
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Class Notes
It’s tent time! Football season is upon us, and that means it’s time for the Auburn Alumni Association’s Alumni Hospitality Tent. We open three hours prior to kickoff, and stay open until a half hour before kickoff. Special guests this season will include Aubie, the Southeastern Raptor Center, the Auburn University Marching Band, and our AU cheerleaders. Join our fun family atmosphere for giveaways, facepainting and food. Momma Goldberg’s will be back this year, serving sandwiches, hot dogs and chips, and Publix will be providing soft drinks and water. Other sponsors this year include Carolina Pride; Golden Flake; the Auburn University Federal Credit Union; and the AuburnOpelika Tourism Bureau (who provide our great megaphones). Admission to the Alumni Hospitality Tent is free for members of the Auburn Alumni Association. Guest admission is $5 for the first guest of member; other adult guests$10. Children 3 and under free; ages 4-15: $5. Can’t be here for the games? Look for Tent Trivia on Facebook and Twitter, and follow along on game days. We’re at www.facebook.com/AuburnAlumniAssociation and @AUAlumniAssoc.
2013
for communications at Birmingham-Southern College and work at Mississippi State and the University of Alabama.
54
Miles Baron ’85 received
international ramifications. He is a nuclearweapons designer and intelligence analyst, and was the X-4 team leader for the Reliable Replacement Warhead design.
the National Intelligence Medallion, the nation’s highest honor in this field, in honor of his work with the theoretical design division of Los Alamos National Laboratory. He has worked at Los Alamos since 1988 and is an expert in a classified national security area with
Alan Enslen ’86, a shareholder with Maynard, Cooper & Gale, attended the 2013 Alabama Business Development and Trade Mission to Norway and Sweden in March to assist Alabama’s secretary of commerce with economic development
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initiatives in the Nordic region and to counsel participating Alabama companies regarding international trade issues involved with exporting to foreign markets. Phillip Grant Hazelrig ’87 graduated from the
University of Alabama (“strictly a matter of convenience,” he says) on May 4 with an educational specialist degree in educational leadership. On July 8, he was appointed human resources coordinator
for the Blount County School System. He lives in Cleveland with his wife, Karen, and children, Wes and Olivia. Stuart Noel ’88 was named dean and professor of English at Georgia Perimeter College. Lee Tillman ’89 became
president of Marathon Oil on Aug. 1, and will take the reins as CEO in January 2014. A resident of Houston, Tillman previously worked as vice president of engineering for Exxon Mobil, where he had been employed since earning his Ph.D. from Auburn. Tillman’s experience in some of the world’s most complex energy fields is expected to help Marathon Oil expand its operations in Canada, Iraq, Angola and U.S. shale fields.
’90-’99 Tripp Haston ’90, who co-chairs the life sciences industry team at the Birmingham offices of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings as a partner in the firm, has been named by London-based Who’s Who Legal as one of the 10 most highly regarded individuals in its 2013 International Who’s Who of Product Liability Defence Lawyers. Allen Dedman ’92 has joined the
Texas construction firm Rogers-O’Brien as vice president. He most recently ran the Dallas office and Texas/Louisi-
ana regional healthcare practice for a national contractor. With more than 20 years of experience in healthcare construction, Dedman joins the firm’s successful healthcare group. He is a member of the American Society for Healthcare Engineering of the American Hospital Association. Bobby White ’92 is chair-
man and CEO of Reliance Financial Group in Birmingham, which was in July named one of Birmingham’s “Best Places to Work” for the fourth consecutive year by the Birmingham Business Journal. Kevin Hagler ’93 has
been named commissioner of the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. Since 2008, he had served as deputy commissioner for supervision and was responsible for the department’s oversight of state-chartered banks, credit unions and trust companies. Stacy Bathrick ’93, a
lieutenant-colonel with more than 20 years of service in the U.S. Army, retired from active duty May 31. During her military career, she deployed to combat in Afghanistan and also served in the Republic of Korea. She completed her last three years stationed at Fort Knox, Ky. She received the Legion of Merit for her service, the Army’s secondhighest peacetime
award. Bathrick and her husband, Lt. Col. Cary Bathrick, retired in the same ceremony. They are now making their home on the Gulf Coast. Howard Chalmers III ’94 recently was
among a small group of graduates of Leadership South Carolina, the state’s most recognized leadership-development program. Chalmers is a software design manager for Blackbaud; he and his wife, Lorrie Kiel Chalmers ’99, live in the Charleston area. Melissa H. Knapp ’94
received her master’s in engineering management, with a focus on crisis, emergency and risk management, from George Washington University. She is a certified healthcare emergency professional and serves as the program manager for emergency management plans, training and exercises at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Melissa McGill Bullock ’95 recently
completed her doctorate in teacher leadership from Walden University. Her project study was on “Transitioning Students with Disabilities from Middle School to High School.” She is the in-school special education coordinator and a teacher at Bremen High School in Bremen, Ga., as well as being the competitive cheerleading coach
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Show your AUBURN
Show your Auburn pride and spirit to the world, or at least to other drivers in Alabama (or wherever the road may take you), by purchasing the Auburn University car tag. The tag can feature up to six characters for optimum personalization; personalize your tag at no additional cost. Buy your tag at the county tag office – make a difference and share the spirit in welcoming new students to the Auburn Family by supporting scholarships.
www.auburn.edu/cartags
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Class Notes ’97 and her husband,
Chris, on April 4.
Auburn Alumni Association
Kentucky: Tag,You’re It Auburn friends and family in the Bluegrass state will have the chance to support Kentucky students attending Auburn and show their AU colors with the new Kentucky Auburn license plate. State approval for the plates has been granted; now, the Bluegrass Auburn Club must collect 900 signed applications for the plates in order for them to be produced. Ten dollars from every AU plate will go directly to Auburn as scholarship money earmarked for students enrolling from Kentucky. The $25 application fee is non-refundable; if the 900 required applications are not received, the fees will go into the scholarship fund maintained by the Bluegrass Auburn Club. For more information, please visit www.auburnclubs.org or contact Kaye Hughes at kaye.hughes@auburnalum.org or 859509-1486. and co-advisor for the “over-comers” club. James Werth ’95 was
named Outstanding Alumnus of the Year by the Auburn University College of Education. He is director of Radford University’s counseling psychology doctoral program, which he developed in 2008 with an emphasis on rural mental health, social justice, cultural diversity and evidencebased science. He also is a professor of psychology at Radford. Christian Flathman
moved to Vienna, Va., from Statesboro, Ga., where he was previously director of marketing and communications at Georgia Southern. Aaron Gresham ’97
was named Creative Director of the Year at the annual ADDY Awards in Birmingham. He works for Big Communications, a creative marketing firm based in Birmingham. Also honored at the awards were Shannon Broom Harris ’06, for Web Designer of the Year, and Ryan Brown ’07, for Art Director/Designer of the Year.
’97 has been named me-
dia relations advisor for ExxonMobil’s corporate public and government affairs team. He and his wife, Rhonda, and daughter, Josie, have
56
MARRIED Jill Elaine Cash ’97 to Michael Thomas Sum-
BORN A son, Hudson Bradford Walter, to Mike Bradford Walter ’92 and his wife, Sara, on Oct. 5, 2012. He joins an older brother, Tristan. The family lives in Auburn, where Walter is national sales manager for Fluidmaster. A girl, Norah Shaw, to Marc Minish ’93 and Chantel Gurney Minish ’01 on March 4. She
joins an older brother, Zave, 2. The family lives in Huntsville. Twins, Walker Lewis and Presley Kate, to Clay Thomas Jones ’96 and Ely Marie Jones ’04 on Jan. 14. The family lives in Auburn.
ners Jr. ’99. They live in
Birmingham.
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A boy, Owen, to Jennifer Jean Smith Hicks
Twins, Rhys John and Sean Micah, to
Erin Luby McLeod ’02
has been admitted as a partner at Dougherty, McKinnon and Luby in Columbus, Ga.
Betsy Strickland Rogers ’97 and her husband, Ty,
Christopher W.
on July 23, 2012. The family lives in Geismar, La., and Betsy continues teaching English and coaching volleyball and track and field at Woodlawn High School in Baton Rouge, La.
Smithson ’02 passed
A girl, Wesleigh Turner, to James Warren ’98 and his wife, Lauren, on June 28. She joins an older brother, Whit. The family lives in Tampa, Fla.
’00-’09 Jill Moore ’01 was named director of Greek life at Auburn in May after 10 years serving the university’s fraternities and sororities. She serves on the National Panhellenic Conference delegation for her sorority, Gamma Phi Beta, as well as the National Panhellenic Conference’s College Panhellenics Committee. Kendall Simmons ’01 is
one of three professional athletes participating in the 2013 Children with Diabetes Friends for Life Conference. Simmons was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes shortly before he began his second season in the NFL and went on to a successful 10-year NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, playing on two Super Bowl-winning teams.
his board exams to become a diplomate of the American Veterinary Dental College. In November 2012 at the Annual Veterinary Dental Forum, he also received the inaugural Journal of Veterinary Dentistry Debra Smith Award for the best journal article written by a resident. He is working with Mike Peak ’94 at The Pet Dentist of Tampa Bay, Fla. He lives in Tampa with his wife, Heather Bingham Smithson ’95, and their daughters Emma, 7, and Aubrey, 3. John Stolarski ’03
has become a principal in an Ocean Springs, Miss., architectural group, partnering with Chet Allred ’66 and his son, Hoppy Allred. The new offices are named Allred/Stolarski Architects. He currently lives in Gulfport, Miss., with his wife Meggan Gray Stolarski ’03 and their two children, Austin, 4, and Avery, 2. Brad Snead ’05 has joined
the Snead Eye Group in Fort Myers, Fla., after completing his ophthalmology residency at Georgia Regents University. He also completed an internal medicine internship at Baptist Hospital in Birmingham.
Brent Barringer ’06 has
been named a partner at Frost Cummings Tidwell Group, an accounting practice based in Birmingham. He specializes in real estate and construction. Hayley Wofford ’07
has joined the marketing team at Great Southern Wood Preserving Inc., and the Jimmy Rane Foundation. Wofford will assist with marketing activities and oversee company events and the Jimmy Rane Charity Golf Tournament. Tim Moore ’09 has taken the position of controller of the Cahaba Media Group in Birmingham. He previously served in accounting at Southern Progress and Hoffman Media. Moore will manage the accounting functions of Cahaba Media Group.
MARRIED Jennifer Marie Antonio ’03 to James Ward Fite
on June 29 in Birmingham, where they make their home. Stephen Farr ’03 to
Kirby Johnston on May 18 at Fairfax First Baptist Church in Valley. He works in Opelika at Castone Corp., and she is a graduate student in education at Auburn Montgomery. Wesley C. Blake ’04
to Margaret Cogle ’05 on Jan. 5. They live in Montgomery.
The Executive MBA Programs at Auburn University can fuel your career without grounding your schedule. Ranked among the world’s best by the Financial Times of London, the programs feature a uniquely flexible blend of advanced curriculum delivery and short campus visits.
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Alumni Hospitality Tent U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Aaron Allmon II
REFUEL YOUR CAREER WITH THE BEST, ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.
A L U M N I
Want a hassle–free tailgating experience? Auburn Alumni Association members enjoy free entry to the Alumni Hospitality Tent prior to home football games. The tent is located on Wallace
Center Lawn, just steps away from Jordan–Hare
Stadium’s west entrance gate, and features food from Momma Goldberg’s Deli, visits from Aubie
and the birds of the Southeastern Raptor Center, giveaways, and more. See you there!
www.aualum.org/tent
Take your career to new heights.
TellCme more … OLLEGE OF BUSINESS
Contact us for information at: www.AubEMBA.org or 1.877.AUB.EMBA
Executive MBA Programs alumnitent@auburn.edu business.auburn.edu
Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/employer.
Auburn Magazine
For Alumni & Friends of Auburn University
Auburn Magazine
For Alumni & Friends of Auburn University
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REWARD YOURSELF AND AUBURN STUDENTS
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Grocery and gas bonus rewards apply to the first $1,500 in combined purchases in these categories each quarter.
Get more cash back for the things you buy most. You love Auburn. Maybe you’re a graduate who fondly remembers your time on the Plains, or maybe you’ve always been a lifelong fan. You now have the opportunity to help the university that you hold dear and reward yourself at the same time. You can choose from two new cash rewards cards that honor the tradition and spirit of Auburn University, both featuring iconic Auburn images. Why should you consider one of these cards over others? • These cards contribute to Auburn’s scholarship fund, at no additional cost to you. You share the Auburn spirit by helping to provide academic scholarships, welcoming new students to the Auburn Family. To date, this program has generated more than $6.7 million for scholarships. • And while you’re helping Auburn students, you automatically earn cash back on all your everyday purchases too – with no expiration on rewards. War Eagle to that!
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The Spirit of Auburn credit card is made possible by the Auburn Spirit Foundation for Scholarships (ASFS), which is affiliated with Auburn University. This advertisement was paid for by the ASFS. For information about the rates, fees, other costs, and benefits associated with the use of these cards or to apply, visit www.auburn. edu/spiritcard and refer to the disclosures accompanying the online credit card application. This credit card program is issued and administered by FIA Card Services, N.A. Visa and Visa Signature are registered trademarks of Visa International Service Association and are used by the issuer pursuant to license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. MasterCard is a registered trademark of MasterCard International Incorporated and used by the issuer pursuant to license. BankAmericard Cash Rewards is a trademark and Bank of America and the Bank of America logo are registered trademarks of Bank of America Corporation. © 2013 Bank of America Corporation.
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In Memoriam Brittany Consuegra
Robert Joshua Haynes
’04 to C. Massey
’09, on June 9, 2012. He
Griffin on April 30. They live in Huntsville, where they both work for the U.S. Army.
is a teacher in Trussville.
ston ’04 to Logan Rice
Kala Bolton ’11 is a
gomery ’09 to Kyle
production assistant for ESPN, working at the network’s headquarters in Bristol, Conn., as part of ESPN’s Content Associate Program.
in Birmingham. They live in Vestavia.
Adams ’07 on Nov. 17 in
LaGrange, Ga. They live in Phoenix, Ariz. Jaclyn Elise Gaddy ’06 to
Russell Wayne Pate on July 6, 2012, in Destin, Fla. They live in Hoover.
Blakeslee Wright ’09
to Albert F. “Trip” Giles III on March 2, 2012, in Montgomery. Whitney Wright ’09 to Jeremy “JD” Whidden ’12 on June 15. Whitney
Ashley Grissette to Robert E. Hodgdon ’07
on July 28, 2012. They live in Birmingham. Ashley Hefler ’06 to
Scott Martinez on Jan. 12 in New Orleans, which is where they make their home. Elizabeth Thompson McCrary ’08 to Ben Samuel
Godwin on Feb. 23 in Birmingham. They live in Birmingham, where she teaches at Homewood High School. Amelia Ashton O’Neal ’08
to Johnathon Robert Stevens on Nov. 17, 2012, in Point Clear. They live in Birmingham. Jay Henry Skipper ’08 to Jamie Lee Storey ’12 on
is a staff accountant at a real estate law firm in Buckhead, Ga., and Jeremy is in chiropractic school at Life University, which is located in Marietta, Ga.
A boy, Jackson Reeves, to Shanna Hodges Tyra ’01 and Jason Tyra ’03 on May 24. The family lives in Katy, Texas. A son, Crawford Douglass, to Mike Parsons ’06 and Laura Parsons ’07 on Feb. 13. The family lives in Atlanta. A girl, Sophie Elizabeth, to Aaron Chastain ’07 and Kathryn Chastain ’07 on May 29. The family lives in Birmingham. A boy, Luke, to Amy
’09 to Maria Leigh Gagliano ’11 on April 21
in Hoover. The couple lives in Gainesville, Fla., where he is an orthopedic surgeon.
O’Brien ’12 deployed to
Kuwait after graduating from Auburn. He’s stationed at Camp Buerhing, where he is a signal officer assigned to 67th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 35th Signal Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps.
MARRIED Capt. Bradley Reed Davis on Feb. 16 in Birmingham. Haley Elizabeth Fitzgerald ’11 to Roy Walker Glasgow ’11 on Dec. 29,
2012, in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla. They live in Austin, Texas. Bryant Austin Haley ’11
to Loren Jessica Thye on Oct. 27, 2012, in Lakeland, Fla. They live in Smyrna, Ga.
A girl, Lillian Virginia, to Lindsey
Parents’ Association
’12 to Andrew Michael Jeter ’13 on May 4
in Montgomery. The couple lives in Warner Robins, Ga. Leigh Anna Solomon ’13 to Patrick Austin
Smith on Dec. 29, 2012, in Savannah, Ga. They live in Atlanta.
BORN A boy, Cameron Martin, to Summer Watford ’10 and Matt Watford ’11 on Dec. 26, 2012. The family lives in Birmingham.
Your
ORGANIZATION Participating in the Parents’ Association is an excellent way to stay connected as a part of the Auburn Family and to support the education of your son or daughter.
MEMBERSHIP IS FREE! JOIN TODAY www.auburn.edu/aupa
A boy, John Lucas, to John Raiford ’12 and his wife, Donna. The family lives in Auburn. Granddad John W. Raiford ’81 works in alumni affairs at Auburn.
In Memoriam ANN ARGO DUDLEY ’43 of Columbus, Ga.,
Joshua Mattison ’11 in
November 2011. They live in Pensacola, Fla.
AUGUSTUS G. WILLIAMS
Christina Locklear ’11 to
AUBURN UNIVERSITY
Lauren Grace Waldrop
died on May 27. She was a librarian and instructional media specialist in the Russell County (Ala.) school system for 30 years.
JR. ’40 of Tuscaloosa
Nichols Robertson ’07
and Adam Robertson ’08. They live in Hattiesburg, Miss.
29, 2012, in Pine Mountain, Ga. She works as a designer at Hodes & Associates Architecture in Dallas, Texas.
Second Lt. Shawn
Grace A. Garrett ’11 to
BORN
March 9 in Auburn. Terry Bradley Clay
’10-’13
Maylee “Greer” MontWeeks ’09 on March 16
Christian Wade John-
The family lives in Tuscaloosa.
Kerale Parker ’11 to Sam Hill ’11 on March
16. The couple lives in Houston. Sara Catherine “Kate”
died on June 22, 2003. A U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, he worked as a pharmacist. FREDERICK PALMER
Waters Johnson ’08
Killebrew ’12 to Aaron
ADAMS ’42 of Auburn
and her husband, Josh.
Kendal Scholl on Sept.
died on March 31. He
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In Memoriam
SNAPSHOT
On Broadway Kathy Henderson might not be a household name, but it’s not unusual for famous actors to recognize the Auburn graduate as they traverse the red carpet at the Tony Awards. In a way, she’s as vital to their success as winning an award. As senior editor at Broadway.com, Henderson ’76 interviews actors, writes and edits features, covers the red carpet and rarely misses an opening night. “It’s something different, fun and new every day,” she says. Henderson (pictured here with award-winning actress Patti Lupone) became interested in Broadway after she moved to New York with her husband, Kenneth, also a 1976 Auburn graduate, and began attending shows regularly. She pursued her master’s in journalism from New York University and worked for various magazines, always maintaining her love for theater. “When we got to New York we felt like we were prepared for anything,” Henderson explains. She says the preparation the couple received at Auburn was a great launching pad. An education major from LaFayette, Henderson went to every theatrical production on campus in Auburn. Now, she has seen every show on Broadway. Her all-time favorite show? Jersey Boys, although her current recommendations are the revivals of Pippin and Cinderella. “The fun thing is every year there’s something new,” Henderson says. Good thing, too. She goes to at least three shows a week but still does not get to see as much as she wants to. By the time offBroadway shows are factored in, there’s just too much theater for one person to see. Henderson’s job allows her to meet and interview many celebrities, but she described talking to James Earl Jones about his role in Driving Miss Daisy for Broadway.com as her most interesting encounter. She said he is a walking history book of American theater. It’s those encounters that make her experience of the theater even richer. “Every time I talk to someone I learn something new,” she says. “That’s what I love.”—Summer Austin
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served the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in both World War II and Korea, discharged with the rank of major. Over the next 20 years, he held management positions in Detroit, Mich., and in Alabama before returning to school to earn his doctorate. After receiving his Ph.D. from Florida State, he returned to Auburn University, where he was a member of the College of Business faculty for 22 years before retiring in 1987 as associate professor emeritus.
CARROLL SANDERS CRAWFORD ’43 of Foley
died on May 26, 2012. A U.S. Army and National Guard retiree, he also was a retired doctor of radiology.
War II, he was vice president at Ashcraft Wilkerson/Duval before being named executive vice president of Woodward and Dickerson of Philadelphia.
BERTHA ANN WALKER
LEON W. CUN-
’43 of Alexander City
NINGHAM JR. ’47 of
died on March 25. An avid reader, she also was a member of First Baptist Church of Alexander City. Three of her nine children are Auburn graduates.
Nashville, Tenn., died on June 8. A U.S. Navy veteran, he joined the faculty of Vanderbilt University in 1953 as a researcher and retired in 1994 as professor emeritus. He was a member of the American Society for Molecular Biology and Biochemistry.
LALLIE BRAGG WARD ’44 of Mobile died on
May 1, 2007. ALMA THOMPSON CHILDERS BENEFIELD
REBECCA C. O’GRADY
HARVEY “LUKE”
’42 of Montgomery
’45 of Montgomery died
MORGAN ’47 of Doug-
died on Jan. 2, 2012. She taught elementary school in Alabama for more than 34 years.
on May 16. She worked as a federal wage and hour investigator, and was a longtime member of the Beta Sigma Phi sorority.
las, Ga., died on May 23. A U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, he worked for 33 years at Rayonier in Eastman, Ga. He also served 15 years with the Georgia Forestry Commission.
DAVIS MILTON GAMMAGE ’42 of Sylacauga
died on May 25. A pilot who served in World War II and Korea, he was a cheerleader at Auburn. MALCOLM CADE COOK ’43 of Birming-
ham died on Feb. 25. A U.S. Army veteran of World War II, he rose to the rank of major. He began his medical career after active military service and served in Columbiana, Hartford and Hurtsboro before returning to Birmingham in 1960 for a specialty in anesthesiology. He later was chief anesthesiologist at Carraway Hospital.
MONROE FLOYD ’46
of Webb died on May 20. A U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, he was president of Utility Engineering in Amarillo, Texas, from which he retired in 1989. Previously, he was regional vice president, Combustion Engineering. MARY THIBAUT RIVES ’47 of Covington, La.,
died on March 6. She was a member of the St. Tammany Parish (La.) Art Association and a columnist for the St. Tammany News Bureau. H.C. “WOODY” COLVIN ’47 of Huntsville
died on May 22. A U.S. Army veteran of World
WILLIAM FRANKLIN “FRANK” BRITNELL ’48
of Cookeville, Tenn., died on Jan. 26. After graduation, he worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority as a test engineer before transferring to the National District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to set up the test section. In 1975, he was selected as the chief of the national Hydro Power Branch. DOROTHY “DOT” EGLI ’48 of Gatlinburg,
Tenn., died on May 20. She was the first public kindergarten teacher in Sevier County, Tenn., before she and her hus-
As one of the nation’s preeminent comprehensive land-grant universities of the 21st century, Auburn University is implementing a new five-year Strategic Plan to guide the university’s direction by focusing on five priorities through 2018. The plan calls for Auburn to enhance student success; support faculty excellence and strengthen Auburn’s reputation; enhance research, scholarship and creative work; become a national model for public engagement; and align resources with institutional priorities. “We believe this is a bold plan that will strengthen Auburn’s role and prominence as an outstanding landgrant institution,” said Provost Timothy Boosinger, who led the University’s planning efforts and chaired a steering committee that included faculty, student, and staff representatives. The committee solicited feedback from alumni nationwide and brought together members of the Auburn Family during listening sessions held throughout the state.
“The new plan will help us prepare for the ever-changing educational landscape while we also maintain our longstanding strategic commitments in instruction, research and outreach.”
Read the full plan guiding Auburn’s future online: auburn.edu/strategicplan
— President Jay Gogue
This is Auburn.
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In Memoriam band established Mountain Laurel Chalets.
ment, he worked with Liberty National Life Insurance Co.
ELIZABETH TALBERT GINN ’48 of Stone
SNAPSHOT
Election selection Most of us take the election process for granted. We go to the polling place, stand in line, flash our identification, check the names on a ballot, and go about the rest of our day. What we don’t consider is how much work goes into keeping the election process running smoothly and accountable to the state’s voters. Ed Packard ’91, who became director of elections for the State of Alabama in March, thinks public awareness is key to fair elections. A 16-year veteran of the Alabama Secretary of State’s office, Packard has seen the state’s election process grow more professional. “I’ve seen a return to more faithful observance of election law,” he says. Packard has worked for the Secretary of State’s office since graduating with a master’s in public administration, holding the title of Supervisor of Voter Registration for six years prior to his promotion in March. Now, as the elections director, he oversees operations in the Secretary of State’s Elections Division, ensures compliance with state election laws and provides assistance to city and county election officials regarding state election law and procedures. Packard also troubleshoots problems that arise on a daily basis with regard to elections at the state, county or city level. He has noticed a change in recent years as the state has shifted from dominantly Democrat to bipartisan to dominantly Republican—increased public awareness has led to a demand for greater transparency in the process. “There’s an air of accountability for elections officials,” he says, something that will grow more as people become more informed about the elections process—information he’s trying to get out by way of updated voter guides and a more in-depth website. Which is where Auburn University comes in. “I’m proud of the education I received and how well the university created opportunities for me,” Packard says. Today, he carries on that legacy through an alliance between the AU graphic design program and the Secretary of State’s office. Students design election materials, which gives them real-world experience and a strong portfolio addition, while the office’s printed materials benefit from professional graphic design. Packard calls it a win-win. “[A university is] not just an ivory tower,” he says. “Its resources do good things for the people of the state.”—Summer Austin
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Mountain, Ga., died on May 24. During her more than 30-year career as a librarian, she worked at the Atlanta Public Library, the Augusta-Richmond County Public Library and Agnes Scott College.
DON AARON FINDLEY ’50 of Gadsden died
on May 24. He served in the infantry at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, earning three Bronze Stars. Afterward, he worked in finance for Eastman Kodak and retired from TEC as vice president.
JAMES WINSTON ANDERSON ’49 of
GENE PINKSTON
Mountain Brook died on March 30. He was the retired president of Thomas Foundries of Birmingham and served on several boards.
HOLMAN ’51 of Hart-
NEALY H. DOWDEN
’51 of Auburn died on
ford, Conn., died on May 14. A native of Dothan, he was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. GERALD C. KINCAID
’49 of Louisville, Ky.,
died on April 27. A military veteran of World War II, he served at the Veterinary Research Laboratory at Fort Royal, Va., before beginning a 30-year veterinary career.
May 24. A veteran of the Army Air Corps, he served most of his career in independent company and industry relations for South Central Bell. He retired as assistant vice president of industry relations after 39 years.
ELI THOMAS MALONE ’49 of Jacksonville died
on June 5. A U.S. Army veteran of World War II, he served with the 3181st Signal Service Battalion. He taught history at Valley High School in Fairfax, then served as director of guidance at Jacksonville High School for 31 years. ROBERT FRANCIS FARRELL ’50 of Vestavia
died on May 22. A U.S. Army Air Corps veteran of World War II, he flew B-17 bombers. From 1957 until his retire-
WILLIAM JAMES REYNOLDS ’51 of Nota-
sulga died on May 30. He was instrumental in developing the Donald E. Davis Arboretum at Auburn. GEORGE ZEKOLL ’51 of St. Louis, Mo.,
died on June 5. A U.S. Army veteran of World War II, he worked as a structural engineer until he retired in 1988 from Gibbs & Hill Corp, Dravo Engineering. He lived in Bloomfield, N.J., for 58 years until moving to St. Louis.
JOHN MACK DOBBS ’52 of Jacksonville, Fla.,
died on May 27. A U.S. Army veteran, he retired in 2007 from Morgan Stanley, and his hobbies included high school football officiating, golf and gardening. DAVID GROSS SR. ’52
of Mobile died on May 7. An Army Air Corps veteran of World War II as a turret gunner on B-17s, he practiced veterinary medicine in Mobile for 58 years. CLYDE R. MEAGHER JR. ’52 of Tucker, Ga.,
died on May 17. A 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army in Korea, he worked as a division chief for Western Electric. EDGAR REID “ED” WATTS ’52 of Birming-
ham died on June 10. A U.S. Navy veteran, he served on the U.S.S. New Jersey as plotting room officer during the Korean War. He and his brother founded Watts Engineering Sales in Birmingham. RICHARD STANLEY RUCKS ’54 of Alabas-
ter died on May 25. A U.S. Army veteran who served in Japan, he was a long and successful career as a conveyor designer with Young & Vann Supply Co. and Vulcan Engineering Co. in Birmingham. CHARLES MASON LANDSTREET SR. ’55 of
Fort Payne died on April 20. A captain in the
A L U M N I
C E N T E R
In Memoriam U.S. Air Force, he was a member of the Alabama Society of Professional Land Surveyors, American Council of Engineering Companies, where he served as the Alabama state president and part of the education committee. CAROLYN JONES
Technical College and Wallace College. ERNEST PAUL “SONNY” BURNETT ’58
of Tampa, Fla., died on May 17. He was past owner and president of Burnett Pest Control Inc., and past-president of Jack’s Cooking Co. in Tampa.
ROSSER ’55 of Martins-
ville, Va., died on June 2. She taught fifth grade at Carlisle School in Martinsville for 25 years. BETTY G. TAFF ’55
of Nazareth, Pa., died on June 12. She was an executive secretary for Nazareth Machine Works for 35 years. LUCY HODNETTE
MALCOLM M. KITCHENS ’58 of Frederica,
Ga., died on May 31. He was active in the Golden Isles Auburn Club and worked as a tour guide of the Golden Isles. AUBREY A. BUCK JR. ’59 of St. Louis, Mo.,
died on May 11. DONALD RAY CON-
GIBBS ’57 of Lynch-
NELL ’59 of Jupiter, Fla.,
burg, Va., died on May 10. Her 46-year medical career was spent serving the residents and families of the Central Virginia Training Center in Madison Heights.
died on May 22. He began his career with Whitney Aircraft as a test engineer. He was instrumental in achieving several firsts in the aerospace industry, including conducting the nation’s first staged combustion full-scale engine test.
ROBERT L. “BOB” NANCE ’57 of Huntsville
died on May 3. A U.S. Navy veteran serving aboard the U.S.S. Wisconsin during the Korean War, he worked for Southern Progress Corp. as a graphic designer, retiring in 1993. JOHN TILLMAN PAR-
making groundbreaking contributions to the field of aeronautical engineering. He was a member of the launch team for the Thor rocket program, which played a pivotal role in NASA’s Apollo program, and contributed to the shuttle and space station programs. At Auburn, he was known for his support of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, and in 2007 the university named the aerospace engineering building Charles E. Davis Aerospace Engineering Hall in his honor.
ROBERT LARRY CULVER ’59 of Birmingham
died on June 3. He was president of the Vestavia Civitan Club, active in Junior Achievement and a member of the Chace Lake Country Club.
BEN McDANIEL ’59
of Birmingham died on June 7. A U.S. Army veteran who served in Germany, he began a business career in Birmingham that culminated as CEO of Goldome Credit.
CHARLES E. “BUDDY”
JAMES THOMAS STEWART ’60 of Athens,
Ga., died on May 11. He was a professor emeritus of pharmacy at the University of Georgia. His career included research with pharmaceutical firms and government. He was chosen by the Harrison School of Pharmacy for its 1998 Distinguished Alumnus Award. ANITA LOUIS HENSON GIBBONS ’61
of Oneonta died on May 26. She taught in the Baldwin County, Elmore County and Oneonta school systems from 1962-1994.
ROYCE EVERETT MITCHELL ’59 of Hunts-
WALTER DARRELL
ville died on June 25. He was NASA’s manager of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket after the Challenger accident, and over his career received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, the Astronaut’s “Silver Snoopy” Award and the Presidential Meritorious Award. He retired in 1999 as VP of Boeing.
TUCKER ’61 of Alexan-
RISH ’57 of Ozark died
on Aug. 20. He served in the 131st Armored Battalion, Alabama National Guard, and as a self-employed mechanic, later teaching automotive mechanics at Alabama Aviation and
college, she worked for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System as a district agent and teacher in Selma and Auburn. She retired in 1999 as a professor emeritus.
NANCY McGINTY
DAVIS ’59 of Laguna
FANT ’60 of Tifton, Ga.,
Niguel, Calif., died on May 2. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Davis spent more than 40 years in the aerospace industry,
died on Feb. 15. She was a homemaker.
der City died on June 7. He was a designer of residential construction.
MAN ’60 of Auburn
died on April 15. After
ALLEN T. ARTHUR
R. CLAY FORBES ’63
of Suwanee, Ga., died on April 4. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force with Systems and Space Commands, completing “in-air” retrievals of spy satellite data. He then went on to retire as a captain with Delta Airlines after 31 years. BILLY PAUL HELMS
on May 31. He worked 40 years for the University of Alabama,
27. She was a former instructor and attorney. GUERRY SAMUEL
JR. ’66 of Birmingham
LOWTHER JR. ’74 of
died on May 15. He lived and worked as an engineer in the Birmingham area for more than 40 years and served as North American sales manager for FLSmidth.
Prattville, died on June 11. He worked for Auburn and was an active member of First Baptist Montgomery.
DONALD JOHNSON ’67
of Birmingham died on May 14. A native of Hamilton, he was one of Alabama’s earliest biomedical engineers. FRANCIS W. BONNER SR. ’69 of Columbus,
Ga., died on May 5. A U.S. Army Air Corps veteran of World War II, he later taught at Georgia State and Troy.
DAVID LeCROY ’80
of Birmingham died on Jan. 5. CYNTHIA LOWE BENDER ’82 of
Alpharetta, Ga., died on June 11. She had a major role in promoting both the 1983 Country Music Awards in Nashville and, in 1984, a burgeoning Women’s Health Center in Louisville, Ky. She served as general manager of Pet Lodge in Alpharetta.
GEORGE ROWLAND PATE ’69 of Murrells
CHARLES DOUGLAS
Inlet, S.C., died on June 2. A U.S. Army veteran who served in the 82nd Airborne, he retired from Nortel Corp. in 1998 after 18 years.
SADLER ’84 of Mont-
STANLEY P. THOR-
JERRY HELMS ’88 of
NELL ’69 of Dothan died
’65 of Tuscaloosa died GENTA SHARP SPEAK-
serving on the faculty of the business school.
on June 4. He worked for Merrill Lynch, and was named resident director of the company’s Dothan office in 1998.
gomery died on June 7. He coached multiple sports in Alabama and Georgia and was a power lifter at Auburn.
Covington, Ga., died on April 4. He was a member of the football team while at Auburn, and a member of Sigma Chi.
Friends
MARK ALAN “PEPE” BARCLAY ’72 of Gads-
LINDA MUNDY of
den died on May 2. He was a founding member and former president of the Gadsden Sportsman Club, and was president of Barclay Contracting.
Waynesville, N.C., died on June 26. In 1991 she became First Lady of the U.S. Marine Corps when her husband, Gen. Carl Mundy ’57, assumed the role of 30th commandant.
MARY ELLEN LAMAR ’72
of Decatur died on April
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
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The Last Word
The Fountain of Youth BY SUSAN MAY ’81 Ponce de Leon came to America in search of it. Millions pay good money every day to buy it, but I’ve discovered it: The Fountain of Youth. All I have to do is return to Auburn and I’m young again. The excitement begins to bubble with the first sign I see on the interstate announcing Auburn is just miles away. As I make the wide righthand turn onto College Street, my wrinkles start to fade and crow’s feet ease into laugh lines. Instantly, I’m transported back to those adrenaline-charged days when it was empowering to finally be on my own, to know that what I would make out of my life would be mine alone. It was my responsibility to pass classes, handle money wisely and choose friends carefully. Friends I met on my first day on campus have become lifelong ones. I bonded with one friend over the fact that we both ate breakfast, an oddity among college students. We giggled during the free Friday night movies at Langdon Hall. We thought we were cultured as we dressed up in our Sunday best to attend the plays at Peet Theatre. During our four years at Auburn, we only missed one performance. On fall Saturdays, we would sit in my dorm window watching the football fans pour onto campus, dressed in every form of orange and blue imaginable. With our front-row seats, we were more leisurely about joining the masses at the stadium. Taking our place in the student section, we lifted our voices along with thousands of others singing “War Eagle.” Swim meets and basketball games were our winter fare, and spring brought intramural flag football games. We attended so many athletic events that my friend’s sister said if Auburn had a Tiddly Wink game we’d show up. We probably would have. If Auburn offered it, we were game to experience it. We listened to nationally known guest speakers and sandwiched in a concert or two held at the coliseum. Over school holidays there were group trips to the beach and to the lake to ski. What was not to love about being at Auburn? I spent my summers working at a paper mill, and over one Easter weekend visit home, I bought my first car, an MGB convertible. It was such a sweet ride. It didn’t take much encouragement to get someone to ride with me. The two-seater took the curves of Wire Road like it did the back roads of northern Alabama. I felt pride in owning something I had earned myself. While at Auburn I left the high school boyfriend behind and experienced those exhilarating first days of true love. I found a husband for life. Memories of dating and making plans for our future are among my most precious. Auburn not only provided me with an education but with a lifetime partner whose blood runs orange and blue, too.
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Youth doesn’t just involve the joy-filled times but includes hard ones that define who we are as a person and who we will become. Like having to tell my best friend that her boyfriend was seeing someone behind her back, the reality that the guy I was so crazy about wasn’t remotely interested in me or dealing with the injustice of the hit-and-run damage done to my car during a neighbor’s party. I will carry those lessons learned at Auburn for the rest of my life. They are woven among the happy times, making them even more treasured. I suffered through the anxiety of meeting a new roommate, the complete stranger I was assigned to coexist with when I sometimes had a difficult time living with my own family. Or the first-day apprehension building inside me when I searched for my classes on the sprawling campus, or worse, finding my way around Haley Center, where all the rooms were identical and the numbering system was a mathematical quiz. On more than one occasion when my children have visited Auburn with me I’ve been concerned they don’t grasp the significance of the time I’ve spent there, or at least don’t comprehend it to the degree I think they should. “There’s where I lived as a freshman,” I’d tell them. Later I’d say, “Your dad lived in those apartments over there, just behind McDonalds.” Walking down the concourse, I pointed to the small white house on the end of the walkway. “There’s where your grandmother lived when your granddaddy proposed.” I was told that same story when my parents brought me to Auburn as a child. They, too, had been reliving their youth. “That building is where I had classes. The eagle’s cage used to be right here. Sometimes I’d see your Uncle Tim coming out of that building. Your Uncle Bo had his classes on Ag Hill over in that direction.” In my eagerness to share my youth, I’d chase my children around campus in an effort to get them to listen. I wanted them to remember Auburn as fondly as I did. But of course they didn’t. And wouldn’t. Until they grew older. Returning to my alma mater is the ultimate intoxicating experience for me. It’s my personal “Mecca.” Being in Auburn again gives me the feeling of having my whole life ahead of me once again. The time before worrying about my mortgage, my hair graying and my middle widening... Oh, to be 18 again. But I am, every time I visit Auburn. My Fountain of Youth. War Eagle! Susan May ’81 wrote Nick’s New Heart about her son’s heart transplant experience and also writes as Susan Carlisle for Harlequin romance.
UNPRECEDENTED GENEROSITY
Harberts’ transformational gift positions the College of Business for prominence The Auburn University Foundation extends its heartfelt thanks to Raymond J. Harbert ’82 and his wife, Kathryn ’81, for their unprecedented philanthropic support and leadership of Auburn University upon the naming of the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business. Their $40 million transformational investment in the Harbert College will enhance the experience of generations of Auburn students as they develop into the business and community leaders of tomorrow through: • increasing the number of eminent scholars and endowed chairs to recruit and retain top faculty members • establishing the Harbert Investments Center, a research enterprise focused on securities and wealth creation • creating a doctoral program in finance to prepare thought leaders in the academy and in practice • enhancing instructional technologies and classroom facilities. For more information about the Harberts’ generosity and its outcomes for the future of the Harbert College of Business, visit harbert.auburn.edu/about/harbert. Philanthropic gifts in support of Auburn University and Auburn University Montgomery are received by the Auburn University Foundation. To make a charitable, tax-deductible gift in support of academics, research, or outreach, give online at auburn.edu/giving or learn more at develop.auburn.edu/how.
“I have always felt that college was a place to explore and find out who you are, and I hope this gift will allow Auburn to seek out more professors who will challenge the students to be the best they can be.” —Raymond Harbert
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