Auburn University > Student Government Association > Programs >Final Lecture

General

The Final Lecture program was created to give all students the opportunity to participate in a teaching award given on behalf of the student body, recognizing professors who have made extraordinary contributions to Auburn University through classroom teaching and service to the university. To be nominated and elected by students as the top professor at Auburn University is one of the highest honors students can bestow upon a faculty member. The selected professor delivers a keynote address to the entire university community on a topic of his or her choice. Past addresses have included words of advice and encouragement for both students beginning their college careers and those moving beyond the walls of the university.

Dr. Tiffany Sippial joined the Department of History at Auburn University in 2007. She teaches classes in World History and Latin American History at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Her research focuses on the history of Cuba and her forthcoming book examines how the issue of prostitution regulation shaped the development of the modern Cuban nation. In recognition of her commitment to teaching, Dr. Sippial was the recipient of the 2009-2010 Auburn University Early Career Teaching Award from the College of Liberal Arts.

Dr. Mike Milford teaches rhetoric in the Department of Communication and Journalism. His teaching and research how we use everyday symbols, such as popular narratives or sports, to communicate significant social, political, and religious ideas. He enjoys teaching at Auburn because of the quality of the students he gets to interact with every day. He is a married father with three daughters.

Dr. Nels Madsen is a professor of mechanical engineering and associate dean in the College of Engineering. A member of the faculty for some three decades, he has been recognized with multiple teaching awards at the department, college and university levels. He stands alone at Auburn as the recipient of an academy award for technical achievement for motion capture technology used in Hollywood motion pictures such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy. You are likely to spot Dr. Madsen as he pedals his retro bike to and from campus, equipped with basket and mirror, and wearing a helmet!

Dr. Macy Fink is originally from Louisville, KY and moved to Auburn in 1999 for graduate school.  I have been teaching economics in some capacity or other since 2001.  I'm a Taurus and I think long walks on the beach are overrated.  "Vote for me, and all of your wildest dreams will come true." --Napoleon Dynamite

Final Lecture Honorees (Names are links to videos of each lecture)

2008 - Dr. Joseph Kicklighter
Professor of History

2009 - Dr. Lawrence"Larry"Wit
Assoc. Dean and Professor in the College of Science & Mathematics

2010 - Dr. Donna Bohanan
Professor of History

2011 - Professor Matthew Kearley
Professor of Biology

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