Good morning and thank you for coming out to share this special day.
I want to begin by thanking my family and friends who are here. A special thanks to Janet for more
than 35 years of support, advice
special thanks and
model as I followed in his steps as a pathologist, government scientist
family, my mentors, and my colleagues who are here. And I also thank leaders and members of the local
community for taking time to attend. Your partnership has been and continues to be invaluable to this
university.
Thank you, too, Jacqueline, Dr. Svyantek, and Beau for your kind remarks and for your dedicated
service to Auburn. And thank you Trustee DeMaioribus for your support and leadership as president pro tem
of the Auburn Board. And I know my longtime mentor and good friend Chancellor Harold Martin is watching
somewhere out there via
we’ve known each other.
Finally, I’d like to thank you, Governor Ivey, for your leadership and for the close partnership we’ve
developed so quickly. I know our growing relationship will be a tremendous asset in building Auburn into a
It’s a great time to
present to you today the ambitious vision we have for Auburn.
But first I’d like to comment on yesterday’s Student Celebration on the Campus Green. Students are
my number one priority and being around students is, quite frankly, my favorite part of the job. So yesterday
was beyond my expectations. The games, the music, the energy from the hundreds of students who came out
to celebrate Auburn. I particularly enjoyed talking with students and learning about their views and
aspirations. It was a vibrant and energizing reminder of why we’re here at Auburn. And that’s a fitting place to
start my formal remarks today – why we are here.
I want to share an ambitious vision for the future of Auburn, a vision developed and embraced by our
dedicated Board of Trustees, our tremendously talented leadership team, and faculty and staff from across
our campus. It’s a bold vision, and I want it to be crystal clear right from the start.
Our vision for Auburn is to become a world-class academic, research, and service university in the true
spirit of our land-grant heritage – and to be recognized as an undisputed go-to destination for that special
Alabama, the nation
Now, that may sound to some like an overly ambitious goal. But it is not. This goal is achievable.
To understand what it will take to realize this vision, we need to look at where we stand today, and that begins
with a reminder of the important role Auburn plays as a public land-grant university. That critical role has
three key components.
Our first responsibility as a land-grant university is to educate and prepare our students for life. We
endeavor to expand their minds, broaden their experiences and hone their capabilities by imparting both
theoretical knowledge and practical skills. Our goal is to empower and inspire our students to be the very best
they can be.
A big part of our public charter – and a key part of our Auburn Creed – is to ensure that our students
are also instilled with a strong work ethic, sound character traits
valuable contributions to the world they live in and to lead their fellow citizens in creating meaningful change
– particularly with respect to those most in need. This responsibility to build moral character and drive active
social responsibility distinguishes the student experience at all land-grant universities – and certainly here at
Auburn.
Our second responsibility is to drive the development of scholarship and research that creates and
advances knowledge in the purest sense. We support, build upon and leverage the expertise of our faculty,
students and partners to discover, to innovate, to create new science, new technologies, and new applications
and methodologies that can directly improve the world around us.
Our third responsibility – engagement and outreach – leverages the value of the first two elements.
Our duty is to engage our students, graduates, faculty
and research into products, methods and services that meet our communities’ most pressing needs. Delivering
real-world, practical solutions is what sets land-grants apart and is core to our foundation.
Most land-grants typically perform well in one or two of these responsibilities. But the very best
universities are driven to excel in all three. Their leaders recognize and embrace the synergy found in the
interplay of education, research
to attain – and that’s our goal for Auburn. So, how are we doing?
We’re doing well in every area, and exceptionally well in some. In terms of education, Auburn students
engage, influence and lead at extraordinarily high levels. The Auburn student experience is one of the crown
jewels of our performance. We owe this success to an educational and on-campus environment that
welcomes and embraces the expectations and demands of today’s college-bound youth.
Auburn embodies an unwavering commitment to student learning that delivers an extraordinary
educational experience for our students inside the classroom and beyond.
Our students enjoy robust faculty-student access and engagement that drives collaborative scholarship
and fuels learning.
Our dynamic faculty, staff, partners and dedicated alumni family work together to build upon the
shared principles of hard work, community outreach
The result is a history of post-graduation student success and professional advancement second to
none. Industry-leading employers seek out Auburn graduates for their professionalism, their
leadership, their commitment to teamwork and for the immediate contributions they make above and
beyond the job requirements.
And Auburn’s alumni and donor family of successful entrepreneurs, artists, entertainers and business
leaders
When it comes to scholarship and research, Auburn’s performance is solid, and particular sectors are
world-class.
Auburn researchers and scientists are generating breakthroughs in cybersecurity, threat detection,
design – to name just a few.
Our faculty, students
and promising scholarly discoveries in the arts and humanities. Many of them have strong potential to
deliver practical, life-changing solutions to regional, national and global needs.
And our research and development partnerships form a growing portfolio of valuable intellectual
property and mission-critical science, technology and health applications that improve Auburn’s
standing as an increasingly valuable “partnership university.”
Auburn’s commitment to scholarship and research is sound, but … there’s room for growth and
improvement.
In terms of engagement and outreach, Auburn has an impressive record of turning the fruits of
scholarship and research into transformational solutions. Auburn collaborates with local communities and
world-leading partners alike to address at-risk populations through initiatives that deliver life-changing
products and services. For example, we’re battling obesity and chronic diseases in 14 under-resourced
Alabama counties with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the Centers for Disease Control.
We protect citizens and first responders with our Vapor Wake detection dogs. Develop life-giving
therapies and treatments for treating childhood disease. Improve crop yields in agriculture and aquaculture.
Conserve and sustain life’s essential natural resources. Build cybersecurity applications for business and
government. The list goes on and on.
But even these glowing descriptions fail to drive home the most impressive thing about Auburn’s
engagement and outreach initiatives – that they are accomplished by a relatively small number of faculty
compared to other universities. That makes the impact of our scholarship and research even more
remarkable.
When it comes to fulfilling our role and responsibilities as a public land-grant university, “The State of
Auburn is Strong.” But “strong” isn’t enough to take Auburn to the next level.
As formidable as our research and scholarship have been, and as strong as our engagement and
outreach efforts, we can do even better. We can do more. We will do more.
We need to be more efficient and more streamlined, to be great stewards of our funds, and carefully
reinvest those funds in our new priorities. We will earn the reputation as the university that business, industry
With some changes in our organizational structure, we’re taking steps in that direction already.
We’ve split responsibility for research and economic development into two vice president level roles.
This division of responsibilities will maximize the value of the intellectual property we develop at
Auburn and accelerate engagement with business and industry.
This restructuring will also enable Auburn to collaborate more closely with the Economic Development
We’re looking to make additional improvements to further drive the integration of processes and
procedures. We have a new appetite for urgency.
We will build upon our traditional strengths by adding significant new resources to our current
scholarship and fundamental research footprint.
We will expand our partnership and engagement capabilities and operations.
And we’ll do all of this while paying close attention to student education and engagement – our crown
jewel.
It won’t be easy, but here’s how we plan to do it.
Quite simply, we need to increase our faculty and give these new hires and their peers the resources
they need to succeed. We intend to transform Auburn into a top-tier academic, research and service
university by hiring more than 500 tenure-track, research- and scholarship-focused faculty by 2022. This
transformational hiring plan will facilitate scholarship growth, improve faculty/student ratios and enhance our
partnership capabilities. It’s a bold commitment, but it is achievable.
New research funding, competitive incentive programs, and targeted graduate student program
additions will drive Auburn’s research initiatives and public/private relationships to greater levels.
New outreach and engagement initiatives will better position Auburn as both a go-to destination for
fundamental research and a vital partner for applied science and technology transfer initiatives.
New faculty hires will balance student teaching responsibilities with a heightened focus on
interdisciplinary research initiatives that engage major partners in large development and engagement
projects.
Our strength in fundamental and applied research will launch this dramatic expansion of Auburn’s
research faculty and scholarly expertise over the next five years. But it isn’t enough to develop
intellectual property – we will implement the practices and structured processes to convert IP into marketable
new products, new therapies, and new value-added services to foster the businesses that create jobs here in
Alabama. So, how will we get there?
We’re poised to begin a strategic planning process led by Dr. Beth Guertal from the College of
Agriculture and Dr. Bruce Tatarchuk from The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. It will include an
assessment of critical requirements such as new facilities, equipment, housing, labs, as well as operational and
administrative needs for recruiting and
to shared governance, this team is enlisting insight and experience from faculty, administrators, development
partners and others.
We will leverage our strengths in STEM and agriculture, but we will also expand into disciplines with
clearly identified promise. No area will be overlooked. We’ll also identify initiatives for increasing the number
of doctoral graduate students to support faculty research and outreach engagement. But we’re not starting
this research expansion from scratch.
Late last year we announced our Presidential Awards for Interdisciplinary Research Initiative to foster
creativity, facilitate collaboration, and assist Auburn in reaching new levels of research and development
distinction. More than 100 proposals were submitted earlier this month.
And earlier this year we announced our new Graduate Research Fellowship program designed to
support research and innovation by Auburn doctoral students while enhancing their careers as academic and
societal leaders.
Our ongoing expansion of facilities and support services at the Auburn Research Park – including the
three new buildings soon-to-be under construction
center – also signals our commitment.
And there’s the new Gogue Performing Arts Center, scheduled for completion late next year. This
state-of-the-art center will connect the campus community with world-class performing artists and
experiences that foster innovation, outreach, and research across the entire campus.
Other lifestyle and cultural additions in the surrounding area will turn the Auburn Research Park into
an Arts and Innovation District -- a go-to destination for start-ups and new business enterprise collaboration.
On campus, we plan to add new dining options, more parking and additional residence hall capacity to
accommodate every freshman who wants to live near their classrooms, labs and study areas.
You may be wondering how we will pay for these new faculty, facilities
we are well-positioned to achieve our ambitious goals.
We recently completed the most successful funding campaign in the history of the State of Alabama –
16 months ahead of schedule! Thank you to all who made this landmark achievement possible.
Sources of funding for new facilities and expansions of existing facilities will be considered in
collaboration with Governor Ivey and our development partners as we flesh out our needs.
And we’ve just wrapped up our most successful legislative session in decades. We’re thankful for the
commitment of our public officials as we all work together for a better Alabama.
I want to mention another key component of our vision: raising the awareness of Auburn on the
national stage. We want others to know about Auburn’s commitment to excellence. We want others to know
about Auburn students who inspire, engage and lead. We want others to know about Auburn’s research and
scholarship that delivers real-world benefits. And we want others to know about Auburn’s outreach and
engagement that serve the social good.
It’s important that we raise Auburn’s profile because we’ll need that higher visibility as we work to add
500 new tenure-track faculty over the next five years. It’s also absolutely necessary to raise our profile if we
are going to attract new partners in business, industry
and outreach relationships.
I’m not advocating we brag or boast. That’s not the Auburn way. But there’s nothing wrong with
Auburn getting its fair share of well-deserved recognition for our tremendous abilities and accomplishments.
And here is my challenge to you today. Promoting the unique value and promise of Auburn to key
stakeholders is everybody’s job – from students, faculty and staff to alumni and partners, every member of
the Auburn Family
To our students – Tell your friends about the big plans we have, invite them to join us, give them a tour
of our campus.
To our faculty – Embrace and help lead the transformation of Auburn into a premier research- and
scholarship-driven institute that fosters a uniquely compelling student experience. We need your help
on both fronts.
To our staff – We cannot achieve our aspirations without the expert skills, hard work, and unwavering
commitment you bring to your vitally important roles in keeping Auburn operating efficiently and
moving forward.
To our loyal Auburn Family – I know you realize the important role you can play in helping identify
promising faculty, potential research engagement partners
invite your continued and
To our business partners – There’s no limit to the innovative ways Auburn can help you grow your
business and fuel your need for top quality talent. Bring us your opportunities and needs, and we will
deliver.
We are embarking on a bold adventure. I hope you share my excitement at the extraordinary wealth
of
Auburn is on the move. A colleague of mine recently described where we stand today as: “The train is
leaving the station. It’s time to get on board…”
But I think there’s a better analogy, one much more fitting to the rich, storied legacy of Auburn’s
pivotal role in America’s successful race to the moon.
Decades ago, President John F. Kennedy stood before an audience of educators and researchers to
launch that adventure. The words he spoke ring true today as they did then, and I’d like to close with them
here.
“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things…Not
because they are easy, but because they are hard…Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the
best of our energies and skills…Because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are
unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win…”
Ladies and gentlemen, I urge you to accept this challenge with me. Together, we can achieve it. Thank
you. And War Eagle!
