AUBURN - New York Times bestselling author Mark Kurlansky will be featured as the Arts and Humanities Distinguished Speaker at the second annual Auburn Writers Conference Oct. 8 at 3 p.m. in the auditorium of The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center.

Kurlansky started out in New York as a playwright. He won the 1972 Earplay award for best radio play of the year. From 1976 to 1991 he worked as a foreign correspondent for The International Herald Tribune, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald and Philadelphia Inquirer. Based in Paris and then Mexico, he reported on Europe, West Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America, Latin America and the Caribbean.

His articles have appeared in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including New York Times Sunday Magazine, Audubon Magazine, Food and Wine, Gourmet, Bon Apetit and Parade. His 19 books include fiction, nonfiction and children's books.

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AUBURN - Auburn University's Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art will host "Beyond the Groundwork," a physical and digital exhibition of works by faculty and alumni of Auburn's School of Architecture, on display Feb. 12-27. An opening reception on Sunday, Feb. 13, from 6 to 9 pm. is open to faculty, staff, alumni and students.

"The exhibition will include a variety of alumni work from those whose careers have followed either traditional or unconventional paths and will reflect the quality and diversity of talent among alumni and faculty," said David Hinson, head of the School of Architecture. "The works are all architectural but in the broadest sense and may be big or small, actually built or a concept of the imagination."

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AUBURN - For the first time since 2005, the Auburn University home page has a new look. The site, www.auburn.edu, officially launched Sunday, Jan. 23.

The launch event capped a two-year process for Auburn's Office of Communications and Marketing and Office of Information Technology.

"The new page is the result of the efforts of many people," said Mike Clardy, director of university communications. "From designers and programmers to focus groups made up of students, faculty, alumni and others, many members of the Auburn family contributed, and each of them shares in the success of the new site."

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AUBURN - The tune "If the House is a Rockin'" by Stevie Ray Vaughan could have been the theme song for Saturday's South's BEST Regional Robotics Championship.

"When I walked in, I thought that maybe I was in the wrong place," said Myra Hicks, eighth grade teacher at Admiral Morrer Middle School in Eufaula, Ala. "I'm a coach and this sounded like a sporting event. To see this level of student engagement with an academic competition gets me very excited. "

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AUBURN – The glow of more than 400 jack-o-lanterns will light up the courtyard of Auburn University's Dudley Hall on Friday, Oct. 29, as students from the College of Architecture, Design and Construction hold their 22nd annual Pumpkin Carve. Finished jack-o-lanterns will be on view from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The public event, sponsored by the Auburn University chapter of the American Institute of Architecture Students, will begin at 9 a.m., as uncarved pumpkins go on sale for $4 for festival visitors and students begin to create their jack-o-lanterns for the evening's competition. The public is invited to carve pumpkins beginning at 3 p.m.

The price of admission is one can of food for the Beat Bama Food Drive. Food and drinks will be available for purchase beginning at noon.

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AUBURN – Researchers in an Alabama educational alliance have received a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to help Alabama students with disabilities earn college degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and, ultimately, enter the workforce.

The funding was granted to the Alabama Alliance for Students with Disabilities in STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – which is a collaborative effort involving Alabama State University, Auburn University, Auburn University Montgomery, Tuskegee University, Central Alabama Community College, Southern Union State Community College and the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind. The alliance also includes six school districts in Lee, Chambers, Elmore, Montgomery, Macon and Tallapoosa counties and has an outreach component that covers the entire state.

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AUBURN – The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University will throw its sixth annual Birthday Bash on Sunday, Oct. 11, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. This year’s celebration will revolve around the “Elvis at 21” exhibition, opening Oct. 10, and will feature music by an Elvis tribute band, “Young Elvis and the Blue Suedes.”

Clips from 1956 films, advertisements and television appearances will be on display in the museum auditorium. Children will have the opportunity to take part in art projects related to 1950s technology, view the Joni Mabe exhibition, “Elvis and Friends,” and learn dance moves made famous by Elvis.

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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 – Students from the Auburn University choirs will perform at New York's Carnegie Hall on Sunday, June 14, at 2 p.m.

A group of 23 Auburn students will participate in the performance. Together they represent each of Auburn's six choral ensembles: Chamber Choir, Women's Chorus, Men's Chorus, Gospel Choir, Vocal Chamber Ensemble and the AU Singers. William Powell, director of choral activities at Auburn, will direct them for part of the performance.

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AUBURN - Auburn University awarded approximately 1,195 academic degrees at its summer commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 9, in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.

Of the degrees Auburn awarded, 840 are bachelor’s degrees, 265 are master’s degrees, 86 are doctorates, two are specialist degrees and two are professional degrees (one each from the College of Veterinary Medicine and the James I. Harrison School of Pharmacy).

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