AUBURN - The Auburn Alumni Association and its affiliate Auburn clubs nationwide awarded more than $500,000 in scholarships to 226 students this past year. The association raised more than $750,000 for scholarships. Of this, Auburn clubs raised more than $400,000 for scholarships at the close of the fiscal year Sept. 30.

"One of the Auburn Alumni Association's chief priorities is to help ensure that the cost of an Auburn education doesn't present an insurmountable barrier to those who would otherwise enroll," said Debbie Shaw, Auburn's vice president for alumni affairs and executive director of the association. "The association is much more than a spirit organization – it's part of our mission to provide scholarship dollars to those in need."

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AUBURN - The Auburn Alumni Association has selected four Auburn University graduates as recipients of its highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award. They are: shipping magnate Robert Kenneth Johns '57 of Summit, N.J.; insurance mogul J. Smith Lanier II '49 of Lanett; rocket scientist Gerald W. Smith '61 of Huntsville; and retired astronaut Kathryn C. Thornton '74 of Charlottesville, Va.

A Mobile native and former Tigers lineman, Johns retired as president and chief operating officer of Sea-Land Service Inc., which ultimately developed, engineered and implemented containerized ocean shipping, revolutionizing world trade. He subsequently founded The Hampshire Management Group Inc., is an inductee of the International Maritime Hall of Fame and in 2006 received Auburn's Walter Gilbert Award for former athletes who have distinguished themselves through achievements after graduation.

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AUBURN - Auburn University has introduced a new design for its collegiate license plates to be available in late August or early September.

Proceeds from the sale of Auburn University license plates in Alabama go to the Auburn University "License to Learn" Scholarship Endowment Fund, a statewide program that raises funds for freshmen scholarships. Approximately $1.2 million in scholarships was awarded in 2008-09.

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AUBURN - John C.H. "Jack" Miller Jr., an Auburn University trustee since 2000, passed away Saturday at his home in Mobile. He had suffered from cancer since 2004. Miller was the founder and chairman of the Mobile-based law firm Miller, Hamilton, Snider and Odom, which merged with Jones Walker in 2008.

"Jack brought energy, innovation and an insightful focus to academic quality and scholarship," said Auburn President Jay Gogue. "He will be missed. The thoughts and prayers of the Auburn family go out to his family and many friends."

Miller was a champion for many Auburn academic programs and spearheaded efforts to improve students' writing and reasoning skills. The Auburn Board of Trustees in June named the university's newly established writing center in his honor.

Miller is survived by his wife of 38 years, Susan Ross Miller; his mother, Emily Townsend Miller of Mobile; his children, Emily Miller Washburn and husband, James; John Cleveland Hays Miller III and wife, Julia; and Edward Aubert Roberts Miller and wife, Meredith; and two grandsons, Jackson Roberts Washburn and Jesse Townsend Washburn.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Government Street Presbyterian Church in Mobile. The Rev. Al Reese, the Rev. Steve Raby and Wade F. Perry will officiate. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Auburn University in care of the John C.H. Miller Jr. Writing Center or the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico.

Contact: Deedie Dowdle, (334) 844-9999 (dowdldk@auburn.edu), or
Brian Keeter, (334) 844-4650 (bkeeter@auburn.edu)

AUBURN - Ensign Lauren Nevels, a recent Auburn University graduate, has been recognized as the top Naval Reserve Officers Training Corp Midshipman in the nation.

Nevels received the Admiral James L. Holloway Jr. Award in a ceremony June 30. Rear Adm. Robert Crates, president of the Southern Region of the Navy League of the United States, was on hand to present the annual award.

"This award is such an unexpected honor," Nevels said. "I am so appreciative of all the people who have poured so much into me - the Auburn NROTC staff that trained me to be a naval officer, the nursing and medical staff that have helped me along the way, and especially my dad, who gave me encouragement every step of the way and is always so proud of me."

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Ulysses S. Grant Letter

On April 9, 1865, Lee met with Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House.  In a letter of the same date, Grant gave Lee the terms of surrender.

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AUBURN – The Auburn University College of Business has received a gift from Wendy S. Wilson of Huntsville to establish a professorship endowment in honor of her first accounting professor, and current associate dean of undergraduate programs, Gary Waters. The endowment, in response to President Gogue's charge to create 81 new professorships campus-wide for existing faculty with exceptional merit, is the second to be secured by the College of Business in two months and the first to be fully funded.

The professorship will be called the Wilson Family Endowed Professorship until Waters retires from the College of Business, and then will be renamed the Dr. Gary Waters professorship. The dean of the College of Business will award the endowment to a professor who exhibits a strong commitment to students and provides a high quality of instruction, research and service. To make the endowment one of distinction, the university will match endowment earnings up to $7,500 in perpetuity.

"There are many people who have had great influence on my life and career and I am very pleased to honor them with this endowed professorship," said Wilson.

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AUBURN – The Board of Directors of the Solon and Martha Dixon Foundation has pledged $200,000 to the Auburn University College of Business in support of flight education. The gift will be used to purchase a glass cockpit flight training device and create an endowment to support proper maintenance and upkeep of the equipment throughout its useful life.

A 1926 graduate of Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Solon Dixon was a leader in the forestry industry. Dixon began his career, however, in the aeronautical engineering and flight education programs at Auburn, instructing student pilots for nearly a decade.

"We know that the glass simulator will improve the training for students and enable them to be more competitive as they pursue career opportunities and that it will be a reminder of Mr. Dixon's role in the formulation of the earliest flight programs at Auburn University," said Doris Tyler, president of the Solon and Martha Dixon Foundation.

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AUBURN – Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson, Auburn University's second Heisman Trophy winner and 1995 Auburn graduate, will deliver the commencement address to this year's Auburn graduates at spring ceremonies May 9.

Auburn will award an estimated 2,823 degrees during two ceremonies in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum. Of those degrees, 2,164 are bachelor's degrees, 357 are master's degrees, 222 are professional degrees, five are specialist degrees and 75 are doctorates. A live video stream of the events will be available on the university's Web site.

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AUBURN – The Auburn University Journalism Advisory Council will pay tribute to five journalists at the council's annual honors luncheon Friday, April 24, at 11:40 a.m. at the Saugahatchee Country Club.

Syndicated columnist and author Rheta Grimsley Johnson will receive top honors as the 2009 Distinguished Auburn University Journalism Alumnus. Other honorees will be Kathryn Tucker-Windham, Distinguished Special Achievement in Journalism; Goodloe Sutton and his late wife, Jean, Distinguished Alabama Community Journalists; Shannon Allen, Distinguished Alabama Community Sports Journalist; and John Logue, Distinguished Mass Media Achievement.

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