AUBURN – A $400,000 gift from the AT&T Foundation will support an Auburn University initiative to reduce the drop-out rate in Alabama high schools.

The pilot program involves a partnership between the Truman Pierce Institute in Auburn’s College of Education and five Alabama high schools, which will be announced later. The college’s Truman Pierce Institute focuses on ways to improve schools and communities by creating partnerships, conducting research and providing programs to meet the needs of schools and communities.

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AUBURN - On Oct. 17, a group of Auburn students and other concerned citizens will embark on a 60-mile Hunger March from the Auburn University campus to the steps of the state capitol in Montgomery to raise awareness about the issue of world hunger.

Marchers will set out from the Auburn University Medical Clinic on Friday, Oct. 17, at 10 a.m. and travel southeast on College Street until it becomes U.S. 29. They will continue on to Ala. 81 North and conclude the first day, and 20 miles, in Tuskegee. On day two, Oct. 18, a 30-mile walk will follow U.S. 80 and finish in the Mt. Meigs area. On Sunday, Oct. 19, the final 10 miles will take the marchers to the steps of the capitol where they will arrive at about noon.

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High-res photo: An Auburn engineering student grinds frame rails during the construction phase of Auburn's 2008 Formula SAE car team project.

To better prepare engineers for jobs in the region’s growing automotive manufacturing industry, the 15 credit-hour minor will focus on vehicle quality, logistics, design and planning. This program will provide Alabama’s automotive factories with much-needed employees for mid- and upper-management roles, developing the state’s economy by allowing the plants to become more efficient.

"The minor is designed to enhance students’ preparation for careers in the automotive manufacturing industry,” said John Evans, faculty member in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. “These well-educated graduates will be ready to join the workforce and fill positions that support production processes and improve assembly.”

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Jeffrey P. McNeill

President of the McNeill Group, a fundraising and higher-education management consulting firm in South Carolina, McNeill has nearly 30 years of experience leading development initiatives at other large institutions, including 25 at land-grant universities.

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AUBURN - Auburn University has seen a 25 percent increase in funding for student scholarships this academic year to a record $18.5 million.

Auburn students saw an increase in funding for both need-based and merit-based scholarships. Spirit of Auburn scholarships, a new program of financial assistance for students with outstanding academic records, led the way, with more than $2.5 million in scholarships in its first year.

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AUBURN - The Solon and Martha Dixon Foundation has contributed $950,000 to Auburn University’s School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences to help fund additional dormitories at the Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center.

The dormitories house students attending summer practicum programs and continuing education programs that AU sponsors at the center. The foundation’s most recent gift will help fund five cottages housing eight each, almost doubling the existing capacity.

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AUBURN - Sparked by two $5 million pledges and a $10 million payment, private giving to Auburn University rose to an all-time high of $131.3 million in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. This tops the previous year’s total of $105.3 million and is the third year in a row the university has broken the prior year’s fundraising record and raised more than $100 million.

The year’s total is more than a 25 percent increase above the previous fiscal year’s earnings. Contributions were made by 37,875 donors, and the total represents pledges, deferred and outright gifts. Gifts of more than $1 million came from 23 donors. These gifts totaled over $54 million, or 41 percent of the total giving for the year. An additional 30 percent of the fiscal year’s gifts were from donations of $100,000 to $999,999.

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AUBURN - Members of Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine class of 1977 has given $200,000 for their alma mater, to be divided equally between the college’s large and small animal teaching hospitals.

Four member of the class, Dwight Wolfe, Leland Simmons, Jerry McMillan and Calvin White, envisioned making a significant contribution to the class. They set their sights on a $500,000 goal and announced the goal during their 30-year class reunion in the spring. Since then, the class has raised more than $200,000.

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AUBURN - The Auburn University Foundation recently received 248 acres of timberland valued at $1.26 million from the estate of Clinton McClure.

The gift will benefit the Clinton McClure Fund for Excellence in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences which sustains an annual fellowship in McClure’s name. The fund provides enhancement funds for faculty, graduate students or undergraduate students.

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AUBURN - Auburn University’s Department of Building Science, in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction, has a new name and designation and will now be known as the Earlon and Betty McWhorter School of Building Science in honor of the former Board of Trustees president pro tempore and his wife.

The McWhorters recently committed $5 million to the College of Architecture, Design and Construction and directed $3 million of the total toward endowments in what was the Department of Building Science. At the November meeting of the Board of Trustees, the board voted unanimously to recognize the quality of the program by making it a school and to pay homage to the McWhorters by renaming the program in their honor.

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