February

The Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, in cooperation with the Auburn University Foundation, is using a crowdsourcing site to raise awareness and financial support for its GM1 research.

The Auburn Transition Leadership Institute will host the 25th Alabama Transition Conference March 2-4 at Auburn Marriott Opelika Hotel and Conference Center at Grand National in Opelika.

USA Team Handball is hosting an international, "last chance" Olympic qualifying event on Saturday, March 7, at the Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum at Auburn University. The matches against Uruguay will take place at 5:30 p.m. for the women's team, followed by the men's team at 8 p.m. Admission is free and sponsored by the Auburn-Opelika Tourism Bureau.

Two Auburn University undergraduates have been named finalists for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, one of the nation's top academic awards.

Those studying the art of filmmaking as well as those who simply enjoy films will have three opportunities this semester to view screenings of independent films and interact with the award-winning, contemporary artists who produced them. 

Auburn University's Harbert College of Business, Academic Sustainability Programs and the Office of Sustainability will co-sponsor Auburn's first Sustainability in Business Summit Monday, March 2, at Lowder Hall. The summit is open to students, faculty from all disciplines and members of the community.

Auburn alumna Lisa Pierce will give a talk on "Hope for Homes: An Overview of Housing and its Importance in Community Development" as part of the Auburn University Honors College "k(no)w poverty?" lecture series. Pierce, the founder and director of Alabama Rural Ministry, will speak Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 6 p.m. in Langdon Hall.

Five local women entrepreneurs and the woman behind the college-themed body products of Pride & Glory will speak at the Women's Philanthropy Board's 2015 Winter Workshop and Luncheon on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center.

The Auburn University Psychological Services Center, serving the Auburn community for more than 30 years, will showcase its recent renovations during an open house Wednesday, Feb. 25, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in Cary Hall near South Donahue and War Eagle Way. Visitors can tour the facilities and meet the director, Polly Dunn, as well as graduate clinicians.

Auburn University has been ranked the top public university in Alabama and number 52 overall by The Business Journals. The report identified 484 national public universities and colleges with an objective of recognizing those schools that offer the best educational experiences to their students.

What if a company could eliminate waste, save millions, turn a profit, create new products and help the environment and communities at the same time?

"Once Upon a Mattress" is the first production of 2015 by Auburn University's Department of Theatre. The satirical take on Hans Christian Andersen's the Princess and the Pea will open Thursday, Feb. 19, at 7:30 p.m. on the Telfair B. Peet Theatre main stage.

Members of the Auburn Family cheered and applauded as two new live oaks were planted at Toomer's Corner on Feb. 14.

Mike Lutzenkirchen, father of former Auburn student and football player Philip Lutzenkirchen, will visit Auburn's campus to share "Lessons from Lutz" on Wednesday, March 11, at 7 p.m. in the Auburn Arena.

To increase diversity in the undergraduate student population at Auburn University, the Auburn Alumni Association has increased its financial support to the Provost Leadership Undergraduate Scholarship, or PLUS, annual scholarship program. The PLUS scholarships assist participants financially by providing them a $2,000 scholarship per academic year renewable up to three years, and supports them academically and socially to ensure that they succeed at Auburn University.

Auburn University is the first university to receive the 2015 Alabama Green Ribbon Schools Award. The State Department of Education announced a total of four winners, including K-12 schools in Hoover and in Lincoln, for their efforts to improve the environment and promote environmental and outdoor education.

Overtoun Jenda made a promise that he would increase the presence of American mathematical research in Africa and capitalize on an opportunity to create U.S.-Africa collaboration through Auburn University and Southern Africa Mathematical Sciences Association, or SAMSA.

Following a national search, Gretchen R. VanValkenburg has been named vice president for alumni affairs and executive director of the Auburn Alumni Association at Auburn University. Her appointment begins March 1.

Auburn University's Department of Geology and Geography was renamed the Department of Geosciences today by a vote of the Auburn University Board of Trustees. The change reflects the ever-widening areas of expertise of the department's faculty and the resulting increase in both interdepartmental and interdisciplinary instruction and research.

The Auburn University Trustee Selection Committee, chaired by Chief of Staff Seth Hammett representing Gov. Robert Bentley, on Thursday, February 5, appointed Gaines Lanier to the District 5 position. His name will be forwarded to the Alabama State Senate for consideration for confirmation.

Chef David Bancroft is tireless in his efforts to find the best ingredients for the fresh, new interpretations of Southern classics he cooks up in his kitchen at Acre restaurant in Auburn. He's so committed to sourcing those ingredients as close to his kitchen as possible that he grows as many as he can on the one-acre parcel the restaurant occupies on Glenn Avenue. However, in a complex, modern food system, it can sometimes be difficult to access, say, Alabama seafood, just in time to introduce a special dish to his restaurant's hip, ever-evolving menu.

The Nominating Committee of the Auburn Alumni Association Board of Directors is requesting nominations from alumni and friends of Auburn University for four new directors. All nominees must be life members of the association, and be willing to serve on a volunteer basis. These board positions require travel to Auburn at least three times per year. Successful nominees will be installed this fall; each will serve a four-year term.

The Special Collections and Archives Department of Auburn University Libraries will host an exhibit of messages and other artifacts left at the Auburn Oaks in the days following the announcement in early February 2011 that the trees had been poisoned. The exhibit, which will run Feb. 14 until A-Day weekend in April, is located on the first floor of the Ralph Brown Draughon Library and will be open during all regular library hours.

Auburn University's James Hansen, professor in the Department of History in the College of Liberal Arts, has received the United States Golf Association's Herbert Warren Wind Book Award for 2014 for his most recent biography, A Difficult Par: Robert Trent Jones Sr. and the Making of Modern Golf. The award, established in 1987, recognizes and honors outstanding contributions to golf literature while attempting to broaden the public's interest in, and knowledge of, the game of golf.

Auburn University will start a bicycle sharing program this fall with "smart bikes" that will allow students to get to class easier and will be accessible 24 hours a day free of charge.

Nearly four years to the day that Auburn University announced the lethal poisoning of the historic Auburn Oaks, two new live oaks will begin taking root in Samford Park at Toomer’s Corner.