People Profiles
Margaret renkl’s Wildest Dreams
The Author and New York Times writer looks for answers to societal ills in the harmony between humans and nature.
Alumna Furnishes Homes for Homeless
A former nurse helps Michigan’s homeless create a new beginning, one piece of furniture at a time.
Alum and Military Veteran Curtis Pippin Answers the Call
Life isn’t easy in the military, but transitioning out can be even harder. Curtis Pippin ’17 helps veterans adjust to civilian life one connection at a time.
Revolutionizing The Way American Eels Are Grown
Fried, smoked or even an “ELT,” Sara Rademaker ’07 wants you to eat more eel
Misjudged: Alvin Wong
Judge Alvin Wong ’73, Georgia’s first Asian Pacific American judge, on his unlikely path to progress
Hope Comes Full Circle: Melony Pugh-Weber
Melony Pugh-Weber ’80 spent a lifetime overcoming childhood trauma in order to help teens. Then one broke into her home.
Think Outside the Bag: Shelby Taylor
One alumna turns the fast-food phenomenon into limited-edition luggage
Chaos Interrupted: Vince and Judy Price (and Jake the Boat Dog)
Vince ’99 and Judy Price used the pandemic to set sail on their dreams
The Long Road Back: Marsha Bass Schmid
Marsha Bass Schmid ’99 was living her best life before an accident changed everything. Now, she’s using her journey to motivate others.
Setting the Unexpected: Brian Morrow
Theme park designer Brian Morrow ‘97 unleashed his creativity to win HGTV’s “Table Wars”
Watching What You Eat: Arma N. White
From regulations to recalls, Arma N. White ’04 monitors the nation’s health
Advice to Sink Teeth Into: Kathy Flann
An author and creative writing lecturer dispenses wisdom for aspiring writers and the monsters who inspire them.
Meet The Mayors
Two alumni from different eras—both mayors of small towns—share advice on life, work and leadership
Back On Track: Lee Anne Patterson
An Indycar veteran helps steer Auburn engineering students to the future of autonomous cars
Champagne Shooter: Bradley Hall
How do you make champagne more exciting? Make it last longer—and more fun.
Inner Visions: Brandon Dean
To find creative inspiration, an artist turned to the subject he knew best: himself.
Hooking a New Angle: Jackie Fry
Deep-sea fishing moves into the future
The Eye of the Artist: Lynthia Edwards
“Black Girl Magic” is the secret of one artist’s work
Driving the Future: William Brannon
Putting brains in a car, but taking the driver out
New Characters, New Tales: Cheniece Kelleher
When Cheniece Kelleher ’13 couldn’t find children’s books with diverse characters, she wrote her own. Now she’s changing the industry one book at a time.
Wild Life: J. Wayne Fears ‘64
It wasn’t until the plane had left that J. Wayne Fears knew something was wrong. The wilderness survival expert had charted a trip deep into uncharted British Columbia to explore a potential hunting range. He would canoe a tributary of the Stikine River through the Cassiar Mountains to an extraction point further south.
Except, the creek he had to navigate was too shallow for a canoe. The gear he had paid the pilot for amounted to a duffel bag full of literal garbage. He hadn’t seen or heard a plane in days, had no axe to keep firewood going and had to fend off a grizzly bear that entered his camp every night. It was late August and getting cold. Ostensibly a two-day trip, it was now day 15. No one was coming.
Building a Sustainable Future: Jane Frederick ‘82
Like most architects, Jane Frederick ’82 often finds inspiration while traveling abroad. In this particular instance, she was gazing at clashing styles from pre-Roman Empire to modern skyscrapers while in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Frederick, however, was not traveling for inspiration. As the president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), she is the American representative to the Union of International Architects’ annual congress.
Local Roots,
National Stage
When the day of reckoning for sexual violence in America came (with the virality of the #MeToo movement), most were caught off guard, but none more than Tarana Burke.
An activist and grassroots organizer since the late 1980s, for decades Burke worked away from the spotlight to help underserved communities protect young women and girls against sexual violence, primarily through her nonprofit, Just Be Inc. Her work through Just Be eventually spurred the first “Me Too” campaign in Selma, Alabama in 2005.
Dad Jokes: Paul Schissler
“THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME — my son went down for a nap five minutes ago.”
Paul Schissler ’11 is standing in his New York City apartment, still jet-lagged from his latest trip: four sold-out shows opening for former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Tim Meadows at the Vermont Comedy Club.
Breaking Bread (and Barriers): Beth Miller
One of the first things Beth Westmoreland Miller ’13 associated with Auburn was Rotel dip. The daughter of two Auburn alumni, the Miller football tailgates invariably featured the spicy beef-and-cheese dip, creating a lasting memory of community. The games eventually became her primary focus, but Miller recognized early that food can do more than feed.
Live at the Garden: Nicole Klein
NO ONE TOLD NICOLE KLEIN ’05 how much negotiating there would be. The everyday give-and-take over booking contracts, artist lineups and compensation is a skill mastered after more than a decade in the entertainment industry. The only person she never compromised with? Herself. She knew what she wanted to do since day one — the next step was figuring out how to get there.
Forged in Silver: William Spratling
TAXCO, MEXICO — Deep in the mountains, a small town sparkles with stalls filled with silver jewelry and furnishings. Many are shaped like indigenous animals, or bear traces of Aztec mythology, but these designs originated more than 2,000 miles away in an Auburn architecture classroom. They are the legacy of William Spratling ’62 sewn into the cultural fabric of his adopted county.
Becky Colwell
Los Angeles — Night falls and the lights of the “Hollywood” sign flicker to life. Long strings of headlights snake their way up the hills to a small canyon overlooking the city. Inside the Greek Theatre, Becky Schmidt Colwell ’94 is doing last-minute checks on the sound, lighting, concessions — anything and everything to ensure every aspect of the concert is perfect.
Jake Adam York
On December 18, 2012, the poet and author Jake Adam York ’94 left this world at the age of 40 just as he entered the full extent of his talent.
Celebrating the joys and tragedies of life in equal measure, from a love of barbecue to eulogizing martyrs of the Civil Rights era, York fearlessly explored his southern heritage as something to be cherished, but also, to be reckoned with.
Steven Leath
Throughout Auburn’s history the spirit of utility, adaptability and camaraderie has held strong. Never one to sit idly by while the world—our global community —stands in need, the Auburn Family has remained committed to innovating solutions for lingering problems. For the last 162 years, it has served us well. On March 29, 2018, the institution entered a new chapter, one that will see Auburn’s abilities amplified like never before.
Janie Forsyth McKinney
They endured beatings, bombings, harassment and imprisonment—but they changed the Civil Rights Movement and demonstrated the power of individual actions to transform the nation. In 1961, Civil Rights activists organized by the Congress of Racial Equality rode interstate buses deep into the heart of segregated America to challenge local laws and customs that denied ordinary citizens basic freedoms because of the color of their skin. The 1960 Supreme Court Decision Boynton v. Virginia granted them the legal right to buy tickets for buses and sit where they’d like, but all were aware they would face violence and vitriol in the fight to end white supremacy.
Daniel Ash
YOU ARE IN THE WOODS.
You are walking down a trail buried deep in old-growth forest miles from a trace of civilization in every direction.
Except that, in the tree — a cabin perched on the branches, full of ornate, bespoke details but synced with the natural, unspoiledbeauty around it. If such luxury in the middle of the forest feels like a fantasy, it is. It’s also the everyday job of Daniel Ash ’08, an architect with world-renowned arboreal homebuilders Nelson Treehouse & Supply (NTS) based outside Seattle, Wash.
Shanna Lockwood
How Shanna Lockwood ’09 the sports fan became Shanna Lockwood the sports photographer is not a short story. Before she started working for the Glomerata during her undergrad she had never used a camera. Covering her first football game, however, was intoxicating.
Travis Coleman
When the Houston Astros won the 2017 World Series, most of the baseball world was in disbelief—the team with the worst record in Major League Baseball just four years earlier had transformed into a star-studded slugging, pitching juggernaut.
For Travis Coleman ’07, a regional scouting supervisor for the Astros, this was to be expected, the culmination of a plan initiated years earlier.
John Oakberg
RELATIONS BETWEEN IRAQ and the U.N. Security Council had been deteriorating for years. Four days after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait under dictator Saddam Hussein in August 1990, the council imposed a crippling financial and trade embargo against the country. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. led military action against Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War.
Butch Anthony
The first step to appreciating artist Butch Anthony is finding him. This is easier said than done.
Deep in the forests of southeast Alabama, somewhere near Seale but not quite, lies the farm/home/workshop of one of the most original names in contemporary folk art.
Meredith Reister
IN THE SPAN OF ONE BREATHLESS WEEK, residents of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands experienced three cataclysmic hurricanes that left its residents hanging on for dear life. For Meredith Riester ’05, a ranger with the Virgin Islands National Park, stepping up to salvage her adopted home was more than just duty — it was about survival.
C.J. Uzomah & Pat Sims
THEY SAY A TIGER NEVER CHANGES ITS STRIPES. For Pat Sims ’08 and C.J. Uzomah ’15, teammates on the Cincinnati Bengals
football team, the phrase is as literal as it is figurative. The 2007 Chick-Fil-A Bowl MVP, Sims was the 77th overall pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2008 NFL draft, establishing himself as a hard-hitting tackle on one of the league’s most brutal defenses.
Helen Leslie
In her condo building, on the shores of St. Petersburg, FLA., fellow residents call her “War Eagle.” Outside her door is an inscription of the Auburn Creed beside a porcelain tiger draped in orange and blue, a hard hat from the groundbreaking of Lowder Hall of the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business over its ears. Parked nearby is her blue car with orange stripes, perfectly matched to Auburn’s official colors.
Tom Dowling
JULY 4, 2015
Tom Dowling ’10 was enjoying a patch of calm weather with friends and family on an otherwise stormy holiday.
The fireworks came out when the rain stopped. Dowling and his friends were launching mortar shells angled across Lake Martin, their tubes taped to a folding table buried in sand. The cheap table had already taken a beating from the repeated blasts. Night was falling and the weather looked increasingly treacherous. The fun would be ending soon.
Yayoi Kusama
“Love” is All Around
Artists spend whole lifetimes turning their inner visions into real life; Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama goes one step further, inviting visitors to literally walk around her imagination. Kusama, 87, has been at the forefront of the modern art world for more than a half-century. Known for her ubiquitous polka dots and surreal visions of everyday life, she debuted the first of her Infinity Rooms in 1965, blurring the line between viewer and art.
Dave Clark
Thirty minutes south of Seattle, rain falls on a warehouse so large its size seems illusory. Walls stretch beyond the limits of peripheral vision, and for good reason: Inside is just a fraction of the stuff offered by the largest online retailer in the world, with a little bit of everything you could ever ask for and quite a bit you never realized you needed.
Wanona Satcher
When asked “How can you make local government more efficient?” Wanona Satcher ’02 knew the answer had to come from the community itself.
Earning her bachelor’s degree in 2002 and master’s in 2005, both in architecture from the Auburn College of Architecture, Design and Construction, Satcher followed the well-trodden path to a private firm, but found little personal satisfaction. In 2011, while developing affordable housing for the public sector in Durham, N.C., she knew she was headed in the right direction, but still searched for a way to use design for real social change.
Bucky Heard
The crowd inside the showroom at Harrah’s Hotel and Casino on Las Vegas’ Miracle Mile is packed. Sprinkled into the audience of Baby Boomers are wide-eyed youths coming for a glimpse of rock and roll royalty.
At 6:15 p.m. sharp, the lights dim, the orchestra hums to life and the curtain draws up to the cheers of the restless onlookers.
Jason Garrison
Known almost as much for his big hits and booming slapshot as his thick, year-round beard, Jason Garrison is sort of an expert on facial grooming. TAMPA Magazine sat down with No. 5 to get to the root of all that hair.
Ken Schwartz
One of the most sought-after restaurant designers in the world, Ken Schwartz has made a living turning the abstract visions of iconic chefs into savory, fully-functioning realities. Along the way his Tampa-based firm, SSA Foodservice Design & Consulting, has become the vanguard of adventurous eats reputed as much for its dependability as its creativity.
Alan Lomax
Life in the Great Depression-era Mississippi was a world apart from typical America; a land of sorrow and suffering but also intensely resilient, even today one of the least understood parts of American history. Here, among levee workers, sharecroppers, and former slaves, the music known as “the blues” lived—blood, sweat, and tears. Without the work of pioneering musicologists John and Alan Lomax, the music and lives of these musicians would have been lost to history, erased for want of attention and interest by a people unable to make themselves heard.
Coconut Cowboy: Tim Dorsey and the art of Literary Insanity
Author Tim Dorsey’s latest novel is weird, wild and wonderful, a continuation of his brand of Florida picked straight from the headlines.
There are two versions of Florida. One consists of picturesque sunsets, sugar-sanded beaches, theme parks and tranquil suburban retirement promulgated by tourism bureaus and commercial advertisers.
The other is a near-apocalyptic mix of savage wildlife, ruthless grifters, con artists, disastrous weather and more historical trivia per square mile than you can wave a .44 magnum at.