George Plasketes
George Plasketes, Professor and Associate Director for Media Studies
School of Communication and Journalism, College of Liberal Arts
PhD, Radio, Television and Film; 1985 – Bowling Green State University
MA, Mass Communication; 1980 – University of Mississippi
BA, Journalism; 1978 – University of Mississippi
“To me, this award means, in the soulful spelling of Aretha Franklin, R-E-S-P-E-C-T. I’m
genuinely overwhelmed that my colleagues and former students recognized my presence and that they graciously took the time and effort to nominate me for this high honor. I consider this, perhaps, my ‘Sally Field moment.’”
George Plasketes is a professor of media studies in the School of Communication and Journalism. A native of Chicago, he studied in Oxford, Mississippi, receiving two degrees: journalism and mass communication. He then earned a doctorate at Bowling Green State in Ohio. Plasketes is the author and editor of six books: three for Ashgate’s Popular and Folk Music Series, two on Elvis Presley images and fanaticism in American culture, and Warren Zevon: Desperado of Los Angeles, the first critical chronicle of one of popular music’s most original songwriting antiheroes. He has published essays, articles, and book chapters on a variety of music, media, and popular culture subjects, including Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, baseball pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee, the failed television musical Cop Rock, TaB diet cola, and the music of the television series Northern Exposure. He is a member of the editorial board of Popular Music and Society and The Journal of Popular Film and Television. Among the courses he teaches are Popular Culture, Fame, Celebrity and Media Culture, Soundtracks, and the interdisciplinary Technology and Culture in the Honors College. He is married to Julie Grace, and together they have a daughter, Anaïs, and a son, Rivers.
Joseph Kloepper
Joseph Kloepper, Professor
Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture
PhD, Plant Pathology; 1980 – University of California, Berkeley
MS, Plant Pathology; 1977 – Colorado State University
BS, Botany and Plant Pathology; 1975 – Colorado State University
“The alumni professorship award is recognition that my scholastic activities of research and teaching have made a tangible difference in the lives of many colleagues and former students. Changing lives is innately more important to me, and more difficult to accomplish, than simply publishing more papers, giving more international talks, or obtaining more grants and contracts.”
Joseph Kloepper is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology. A Kansas native, he received his undergraduate degree at Colorado State University in botany and plant pathology, followed by a master’s degree in plant pathology from CSU in 1977. He then pursued a degree at the University of California, Berkeley, where he obtained a doctorate in plant pathology in 1980 and then served two years as an assistant professor in the same department. He transitioned from academia into industry, where he worked for one year in Kansas and six years in Canada before being selected as an associate professor at Auburn University in 1989. During his time at Auburn, Kloepper has maintained research related to applications of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, or PGPR, and has led the international PGPR workshop that is held every three years on different continents to connect researchers and students engaged in this area. He teaches courses in grant writing and plant disease management. Kloepper is married to William Fowler, and has five children. His son Gregory Kloepper lives in Auburn.
F Stephen Dobson
F. Stephen Dobson, Professor
Department of Biological Sciences, College of Sciences and Mathematics
PhD, Biological Sciences; 1984 – University of Michigan
MA, Biological Sciences; 1978 – University of California, Santa Barbara
BA, Biological Sciences; 1975 – University of California, Berkeley
“I am humbled to be chosen among my fine colleagues as an alumni professor. Auburn University’s alumni and their association are renowned in the southeastern region and nationally, and they should be. They keep the spirit of Auburn University alive in the countless citizens that have received their academic training here.”
After completing his doctorate at the University of Michigan in 1984, F. Stephen Dobson held a NATO postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Alberta in Canada, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Lethbridge. He returned to the University of Michigan as a visiting assistant curator in the Museum of Zoology and came to Auburn in 1988. Upon his arrival at Auburn, he received National Science Foundation funding to work in Tibet each summer for four years. Dobson also conducted four years of summer research at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. In 1995, he began a long collaboration with French researchers, first at the University of Paris and later at the University of Montpellier. He was named a Chevalier of France in 2002, spent six summers as an invited professor at the University of Paris, was given two "Poste Rouge" scholarships, and was later appointed director of research in the French National Center for Scientific Research. He is married to Julia D. Kjelgaard.
Dawn Boothe
Dawn Boothe, Professor
Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine
DVM; 1980 – Texas A&M University
PhD, Veterinary Physiology (Clinical Pharmacology);
1989 – Texas A&M University
MS, Veterinary Physiology;
1985 – Texas A&M University
BS, Veterinary Medicine;
1978 – Texas A&M University
BS, Zoology; 1977– Texas A&M University
“At Auburn, the focus on teaching and learning is real, but scholarly activity in other arenas and missions is not negatively impacted. Indeed, expectations of excellence in teaching are emphasized as much as is excellence in research to all position candidates. One can be – indeed the environment is provided to be – passionate, progressive, innovative, and imaginative in both teaching and research.”
Dawn Boothe is among the first class of diplomates in the American College of Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology. In 1990, she began working at Texas A&M University in the Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, becoming a professor in 2003. She then joined the departments of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, and Clinical Sciences at Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine as a professor. Boothe directs the Clinical Pharmacology Laboratory, serving more than 4,000 national and international veterinary practices. She actively teaches veterinary students and has mentored more than 31 graduate students and clinical pharmacology residents. Boothe has received more than $1.7 million in research funding as the principle investigator and has authored or coauthored more than 125 peer-reviewed scientific publications, two textbooks, and over 60 book chapters. Major awards include a University Achievement Award in Teaching at Texas A&M University, the Jack Mara Scientific Achievement Award for Scientific Achievement, graduate student mentor awards, and the Zoetis Award for Excellence in Research. She is married to Harry W. Boothe, and would like to recognize his mother, Alberta Boothe. She and her husband have two children: Ashley Boothe Tidwell and Matthew W. Boothe.