Auburn Family Friday Speaker Series set for home football weekends

Auburn University will host the Auburn Family Friday Speaker Series each Friday before home football games for fans wanting to learn more about Auburn people, programs and research.

This year's series will feature nine speakers over the course of six events during the 2019 football season. Each speaker event will take place at 3 p.m. CT, and all but one will occur at the Auburn Alumni Center located at 317 S. College St. The Sept. 13 event, featuring Chris Heacox, executive director of the Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center, will be held at the performing arts center located at 910 S. College St. 

"We are looking forward to bringing together a fantastic group of people who will discuss a range of interesting topics," said Mike Clardy, assistant vice president in Auburn's Office of Communications and Marketing. "The speaker series gives us a chance to showcase those who have a connection to the university and have a great story to tell."

The full series lineup is below:

• Sept. 6: Robb Taylor, head coach for Auburn’s wheelchair basketball team. Talk title: Auburn Wheelchair Basketball: We Believe in Work, Hard Work

• Sept. 13 (Homecoming and Fall Family Weekend): Chris Heacox, executive director of the Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center Talk title: Behind the Scenes at the Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center *Attendees will be able to take center tours.

• Sept. 27 (Black Alumni Weekend): Sam Heys, author of the book, "Remember Henry Harris: Lost Icon of a Revolution," – which focuses on Henry Harris, Auburn’s first black basketball player. The talk will be in honor of the 50th anniversary of integration of Auburn athletics. Talk title: Remember Henry Harris

• Nov. 1: (Military Appreciation): Mallory Lucier-Greer, associate professor, Human Development and Family Studies in Auburn’s College of Human Sciences, and principal investigator for the Military REACH program Talk title: Mobilizing Family Science Research to Support Military Families.

• Nov. 15: Rusty Smith, associate director of the Rural Studio, Auburn University’s internationally recognized design-build program for the underserved community of Newbern, Alabama. Talk title: Rural Studio: Educating the Citizen Architect

• Nov. 22: Brent Fox, associate professor and director of Student Affairs, Harrison School of Pharmacy; Haley Phillippe, associate clinical professor, Harrison School of Pharmacy and clinical assistant professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, Huntsville campus; and Karen Marlowe, assistant dean, Harrison School of Pharmacy-Mobile campus and associate department head, Department of Pharmacy Practice, Harrison School of Pharmacy Talk title: Battling the Opioid Crisis in Alabama

The series is sponsored by the Auburn Alumni Association, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Auburn University, Auburn Athletics and the Office of Communications and Marketing. For more information, go to http://ocm.auburn.edu/speaker_series.