AUBURN – Auburn University will award 3,312 academic degrees May 6-8 in Auburn Arena during spring commencement ceremonies featuring talks by Auburn alumni and industry leaders.

The first ceremony on May 6 begins at 1 p.m. for the colleges of Agriculture; Architecture, Design and Construction; Education; and Human Sciences. Auburn alumnus Ron Baynes, NFL coordinator of recruiting and officiating development, will be the speaker. The second ceremony starts at 5 p.m. for the College of Business with Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons and co-founder of The Home Depot, serving as the speaker.

The morning ceremony on May 7 begins at 10 a.m. for the colleges and schools of Engineering; Forestry and Wildlife Sciences; Nursing; and Sciences and Mathematics. Auburn alumnus Kirby Bland, chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, will be the speaker. A 2 p.m. ceremony will be held for the College of Liberal Arts with Auburn alumnus Javier Goizueta, vice president of The Coca-Cola Company, serving as the speaker.

Each ceremony can be viewed live through the university's website at http://www.auburn.edu/graduationlive.

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AUBURN – Chris Roberts, department chair and the George E. and Dorothy Stafford Uthlaut Professor of Chemical Engineering in Auburn University's Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, has been named dean of the college effective July 1.

Roberts succeeds Larry Benefield, who is retiring after 33 years at Auburn and who has served as dean of the college since 1998.

"Dr. Roberts has an outstanding record of achievement in teaching and research and has demonstrated exceptional leadership as chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering," said Auburn Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Timothy Boosinger. "I am confident that he has the ability to significantly advance the college's mission and I look forward to working with him in the coming years."

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AUBURN – Auburn University will hold its sixth annual Sexual Assault Awareness Month campaign in April to raise public awareness about sexual violence and ways to prevent it.

The Women's Resource Center, a division of the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, will partner with Health Promotions and Wellness Services to spearhead this year's campaign and to host a series of events throughout the month. Events will be coordinated by a student task force led by campaign co-chairs Mary Isbell and Finley Hurth.

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AUBURN – To heighten awareness of transportation safety, Auburn University, the city of Auburn, Auburn Police Division and the Lee County Sheriff's Office launched the weeklong "Travel with Care" campaign, Monday, March 19. Auburn University Vice President for Student Affairs Ainsley Carry, Mayor Bill Ham Jr., Auburn Police Chief Tommy Dawson and Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones joined members of the community to kick off the campaign, which encourages motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, transit riders and commuters using other forms of transportation to make safety their first priority on the road.

As indicated in the campaign's tag line, "however you go, go safely," the importance of observing traffic laws while respecting all modes of transportation is a major emphasis of the campaign's message.

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AUBURN – The Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine has launched a new initiative to accelerate cancer innovation from the laboratory to the clinic. The Auburn University Research Initiative in Cancer, or AURIC, embodies "One Medicine" – the concept that sees human and animal health as a single field where discoveries in one species advance health in both species.

"In 2010, more than 23,000 new cases of cancer were diagnosed and more than 10,000 people died of cancer in Alabama," said Bruce Smith, AURIC director. "In addition to being ill with cancer or seeing relatives endure pain, many Alabamians have also watched a beloved pet suffer from this disease. Animals and humans share many of the same cancers and what we learn in treating a tumor in a dog can teach us more about treating the same tumor in a person."

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AUBURN – After an extensive national search, Auburn University President Jay Gogue has named Jane Parker as Vice President for Development.

Parker currently serves as the executive vice president and managing director of development for Arizona State University. Prior to her tenure at Arizona State she served for more than 30 years at Emory University, ultimately as vice president for operations for the university's office of development and alumni relations.

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AUBURN – The Auburn University Graduate School will host journalist Cynthia Tucker as the New Horizons Lecturer March 20, at 2 p.m. in Langdon Hall Auditorium where she will give a talk on "Reflections on Race, Class and Resentment." A reception in Langdon courtyard will follow the free public lecture.

Tucker, a veteran newspaper journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner, is a visiting professor of journalism and Charlayne Hunter-Gault Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at the University of Georgia. She is also a highly regarded commentator on television and radio news shows.

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AUBURN – Auburn University's Donald E. Davis Arboretum has won national recognition for its extensive and valuable collection of oaks. Home to 38 species of oaks native to Alabama and the Southeast, including rare and threatened species, the arboretum has been honored by the North American Plant Collections Consortium as a member of its Multi-Site Quercus, or oak, Collection, a distinction given to select botanical gardens and arboretums. Auburn's arboretum, in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, is one of only 20 from across the country to be accepted into the Quercus Collection.

"This recognition of the arboretum's oak collection is really exciting for the university," Dee Smith, curator of the arboretum, said. "It integrates Auburn University into a national organization of collections and increases the visibility of our research and conservation efforts."

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AUBURN – Auburn University's College of Sciences and Mathematics, or COSAM, will hold the second annual Marie W. Wooten Memorial 5K Run on April 21 in recognition of Wooten's contributions as a mentor, scientist, scholar and academic administrator and her commitment to student training and outreach.

In addition to the 5K run that begins at 8 a.m. outside Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum, the event will also include a one-mile walk beginning at 8:20 a.m.

Last year's 5K hosted over 150 participants and proceeds from the event provided scholarship support to four female students in the College of Sciences and Mathematics. The scholarships were created through gifts to the Auburn University Foundation by friends, colleagues and family members of Wooten.

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AUBURN – The Auburn University Board of Trustees agreed on Feb. 3 to establish the International Hunger Institute, providing the university with another tool to use in the fight against domestic and global hunger.

The proposal from the College of Human Sciences was based on the college's ongoing relationship with the United Nations World Food Programme and the university's role as a land-, space- and sea-grant institution.

"No other institution is as well positioned to create an international hunger institute as Auburn University," said June Henton, dean of the College of Human Sciences.

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