Four Auburn professors selected to 2021-22 SEC Academic Leadership Development Program

Four Auburn University professors have been selected to join the 2021-22 SEC Academic Leadership Development Program cohort.  

The Auburn professors are: Chase Bringardner, chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance in the College of Liberal Arts; Lori B. Hornsby, First Professional Year Program coordinator in the Harrison School of Pharmacy; Jeff Reese, head of the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling in the College of Education; and Paul H. Walz, head of the Department of Pathobiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine.  

Bringardner earned his doctoral degree from the University of Texas in Austin, and has been at Auburn since 2008. He specializes in the study of popular entertainments, regional identity construction and intersections of race, gender and class in popular performance forms. He also teaches various courses and seminars, such as Introduction to Theatre for both majors and non-majors, Musical Theatre History and Performance Theory/Performance Art.  

Hornsby earned both her bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy from Auburn, and has served as an affiliate faculty member for Auburn, Georgia and Mercer schools of pharmacy. Distinguished in her field, she has won the Regional Preceptor of Excellence Award for the Columbus Region on multiple occasions, and was named Outstanding Teacher for the 2007-08 academic year. She also practices at Piedmont Columbus Community Health Center.  

Reese is a licensed psychologist whose research interests include psychotherapy process/outcome, psychotherapy supervision and training, telepsychology and sports psychology. He arrived at Auburn in 2020 after 12 years at the University of Kentucky, where he served as a professor and department chair. Reese has won multiple teaching and mentoring awards during his career.  

Walz been a part of the Auburn faculty for 17 years. Before coming to Auburn, Walz earned his doctorate in veterinary medicine from Michigan State University and briefly ran a practice in Corunna, Michigan. In 2000, he joined the faculty at Kansas State University, before joining Auburn in 2004. Walz’s research interests consist of medical and surgical conditions affecting food animals, as well as infectious diseases of cattle.  

The SEC Academic Leadership Development Program’s goal is to identify, prepare and advance academic leaders for roles within SEC institutions and beyond. Participants were selected through a competitive campus-level process.  

Traditionally, the SEC Academic Leadership Development Program operates through three components consisting of a university-level development program designed by each institution for its own fellows, two SEC-wide three-day workshops and a competitive fellowship designed to yield academic growth opportunities for former fellows. However, due to COVID-19, the 2021-22 program experience has been adapted to include both virtual sessions and in-person workshops.  

The members of cohort 13 participated in a virtual program launch hosted by the University of Georgia in October, and will participate in an in-person workshop hosted by the University of South Carolina in February, a summer virtual session, as well as a second workshop hosted by Georgia next fall.  

The Auburn participants join more than 500 individuals who have participated as fellows in the SEC Academic Leadership Development Program since its establishment in 2008. 

For more information about the SEC Academic Leadership Development Program, click here.