A Message From Provost Nathan

Dear Colleagues,

As we settle into the fall semester, I welcome back our returning faculty and extend a special welcome to our new faculty colleagues joining Auburn. With the semester now underway, I am pleased to share updates, celebrate recent accomplishments, and highlight opportunities to connect in the weeks ahead.

This month marks the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001. For those of us who remember that day, the memories remain remarkably clear. Yet most of the students we teach and serve today were not alive when it happened. As faculty, we have a unique opportunity to help a new generation understand and reflect on that history. To commemorate the anniversary, many of our students will once again join our ROTC cadets and local first responders for the memorial stair climb at Jordan-Hare Stadium, climbing the equivalent of 110 stories in remembrance of those who lost their lives and those who served and sacrificed that day. It is particularly meaningful to see students who have no personal memory of 9/11 choose to remember and honor those who do.

In a month that invites reflection on lives and communities changed by tragedy, our thoughts are with members of our Auburn community grieving the loss and devastation caused by the flash floods in Nepal. For many, home is both here in Auburn and thousands of miles away, making moments like this especially painful. We stand with our Nepali colleagues and students in friendship, compassion, and care, and offer our deepest sympathies to those who have lost loved ones or are still waiting for news.

Such moments also remind us of the importance of community, connection, and creating opportunities to learn from one another. On September 30 from 5-6 p.m. CDT, Drs. Robert P. George and Cornel West will return to Auburn for Democracy in Dialogue, the second event in our Signature Speaker Series at the Gogue Performing Arts Center. I hope you will join us for what promises to be a thoughtful conversation about different perspectives, civil discourse, and the responsibilities of citizenship. Programs like this give us an opportunity to reflect on our nation’s history while engaging our students in important conversations about its future. Tickets are free, and reservations are now open to faculty, staff, and students (your AU login is required).

Looking ahead, we continue to move forward with several important academic leadership searches. Applications for the next deans of the College of Agriculture and College of Nursing are currently under review, with on-campus interviews planned for later this fall. I encourage our faculty to participate in the candidate open forums and share your feedback as these searches progress. We also received a strong response to our internal search for the next director of the Honors College, with nine candidates representing five colleges expressing interest in this important leadership role. The search committee has completed its first round of interviews, and I look forward to announcing our next director in the coming weeks.

I extend thanks to all of you, our faculty, for your work in submitting your fall course syllabi through the new Syllabus Repository. I know the beginning of the semester is an especially busy time, and I appreciate your responsiveness throughout the process. I’m pleased to share that we have reached a 99% completion rate, with 6,555 of 6,623 fall syllabi submitted. Of those remaining, most are associated with research, directed studies, and special topics courses. Our students are already using the repository, with nearly 100,000 views of course syllabi so far.

At its forthcoming September 11 meeting, the Board of Trustees will consider two new certificates proposed by the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. Designed specifically for students outside Industrial and Systems Engineering, the undergraduate and graduate certificates will enable students to add specialized systems engineering skills to their existing degree programs while meeting growing workforce demand across Alabama’s defense, aerospace, manufacturing, and technology sectors.

The following week, on Thursday, September 17, we will recognize 123 colleagues who recently achieved promotion and/or tenure at our annual Promotion and Tenure Reception. I invite all faculty to join us from 3 to 5 p.m. CDT in the ACLC as we celebrate this significant career milestone and the contributions of our colleagues to Auburn. Remarks will begin at 3:45 p.m.

I also encourage you to consider nominating a faculty member for one of our annual Faculty Awards. Nominations are due by 4:45 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, September 16, so I hope you will take this opportunity to recognize someone whose work has significantly advanced our mission.

Finally, I want to recognize faculty members whose recent accomplishments reflect the outstanding work happening across our academic community. Congratulations to our five new 2026 Alumni Professors: Drs. Mark Barnett, Evangelos Miliordos, Gretchen Oliver, Miranda Reed, and Giovanna Summerfield. This annual honor recognizes faculty whose teaching, research, and service continue to make a meaningful difference for our students and Auburn.

Congratulations as well to Dr. Laura Plexico, who has been selected for the SEC Academic Leadership Development Program Alumni Fellowship, a competitive opportunity that recognizes ALDP alumni and supports their continued growth as academic leaders. The fellowship provides opportunities for advanced professional development and engagement with higher education leaders across the SEC.

Dr. Matthew Clary has also been selected as a 2026-27 Higher Education Ambassador for the Council on Foreign Relations, joining approximately 80 educators nationwide and one of only three selected from Alabama. In this role, he will help advance education in foreign policy and international affairs through CFR educational resources, professional development, and engagement with educators across the country.

There is much happening across our academic community as we begin the year, and I am grateful for the many ways you continue to support our students, your colleagues, and Auburn’s academic mission. I look forward to seeing many of you at these events and around campus throughout the semester.