The Lifetime Achievement Awards honor distinguished members of the Auburn Family for extraordinary accomplishments in their personal and professional lives, as well as dedication to the university. Noteworthy recent graduates in the midst of their careers are recognized with the Young Alumni Achievement Award. Recipients are nominated by their peers and selected by a committee of Auburn administrators, trustees, faculty, students, and alumni.
Gary Godfrey ’86 and Carol Godfrey ’86
Industrial Engineering
Gary and Carol Godfrey both graduated with bachelor’s degrees in industrial engineering in 1986. Carol began her career in manufacturing and product development before joining Southwire Company in 2006 as the vice president for marketing and product development. She was quickly promoted at Southwire and steadily climbed the ladder throughout her career, serving as the senior vice president for products and markets before retiring. As the senior vice president, she expanded Southwire’s markets in North America and was responsible for leading the development of new products and service offerings, including strategic partnerships, new product manufacturing, and acquisitions.
Gary is a highly credentialed management consultant and business executive who is a leading expert on supply chain management and business transformation. He has worked with, and for, some of the world’s premier brands, including as Accenture’s global managing director of integrated planning and fulfillment. In this role, he refocused the practice to issues-based solutions and, in so doing, brought improved business margins and client satisfaction. He has worked across a wide variety of industries: retail, consumer products, manufacturing, communications, media/entertainment, oil and gas nationally and internationally, bringing innovative leadership and problem-solving to each endeavor. Under his leadership, the practice turned supply chains into engines that drove business strategy.
In addition to representing the university through their distinguished careers, the Godfreys have dedicated their time, talent, and treasure to Auburn and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering in a plethora of ways for more than 20 years. Their gifts have supported the College of Engineering’s 100+ Women Strong program, the Dr. Saeed Maghsoodloo Annual Assistantship, the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, scholarships, Ever Auburn scholarships, unrestricted fund, funds for excellence, the Thomas Walter Center for Technology Management, construction of the Brown-Kopel Engineering Student Achievement Center, naming Café 25 in the Brown-Kopel Center in Gary’s honor, and Auburn basketball. For their commitment to Auburn, the Godfreys are recognized as members of the university’s Foy and 1856 societies and the college’s Keystone, Ginn, and Eagle societies.
In 2019, Gary was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Empowered by his motto, “Make Today Your Best Day,” Gary has become a staunch advocate for ALS research and awareness, and he has done so with Carol by his side. His impact and quest to cure ALS is something that will be felt for generations. Just in the past two years, he has helped raise millions upon millions of dollars in this fight against ALS. His Iron Bowl Challenge versus former University of Alabama football player and fellow ALS survivor Kerry Goode raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, and Gov. Kay Ivey even declared the week as the “Kerry and Gary Challenge to Defeat ALS Week.”
Lester Killebrew Sr. ’68
Industrial Engineering
Lester Killebrew graduated from Auburn University in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering. Following graduation, he parlayed engineering lessons learned at Auburn and founded his own business — Henry Farm Center — now known as SunSouth, where he remains as chairman. SunSouth is a John Deere dealership with 21 locations serving areas in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, and it has been named in the top five dealers in the nation with John Deere Managers Club more than five times.
Killebrew’s desire to plant the seed of STEM curiosity and imagination led to the founding of ATTA, an engaging library of STEM and history located in the heart of downtown Abbeville. ATTA’s visitors enjoy exhibits and are introduced to the latest technologies. Killebrew continues his impact at ATTA as chairman and CEO.
Killebrew has given back to Auburn Engineering through scholarships and funds used for classroom and building enhancements, helping provide students with the best tools possible to make a difference beyond college. His contributions to the state’s economy don’t rest on agricultural engineering equipment alone. Killebrew founded CCS Technology Centers, a valuable computer hardware/software provider utilized by industry that continues to help users remain profitable. Through CCS Technology, he was pivotal to the computerization of the Auburn Athletics Department.
He is the chairman of the Alabama Agriculture Museum and is on the board of directors of Federated Insurance Companies. He is past president of the Abbeville Chamber of Commerce, past chairman of the North American Equipment Dealers Association, and past national director of the Southern Equipment Dealers Association. He is the chairman of the board at SunSouth LLC, president and CEO of CCS Technology Centers, the head of Henry Farm Center Inc., and holds the top position of the ATTA Library of STEM and History.
John Holman Watson ’60
Mechanical Engineering
John Watson earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Auburn University in 1960. Watson has a wealth of experience in engineering and business, but his career started upon graduation when he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army. A lifelong learner, he planned to return to Auburn to pursue his master’s degree in mechanical engineering after serving active duty in the Army, but was called again to serve during the Berlin Crisis. Once he returned to Alabama, he joined Smith’s Inc. and launched his career in engineering.
At Smith’s, Watson quickly rose through the ranks, purchasing the company from owner Jim Smith and becoming the company’s president and CEO while he was still in his 20s. In those roles, he expanded the company, diving into new business ventures and investing in all areas of building and construction. Ever the entrepreneur, Watson has ventured into many businesses outside of mechanical engineering. He founded and owned Aladan Inc., a latex company in the 1990s, which became the largest latex examination company in the United States at the time. He has owned businesses and capital in windows, bricks, fiberglass, and general construction. His entrepreneurial spirit has even taken him into the yeast business, where he owned a yeast company for many years. Throughout this time with new business ventures, Watson has remained president and CEO of Smith’s Inc., and now retired, he sits on the board.
His other business ventures include Engineered Systems Inc., which built Auburn’s indoor football practice facility, and Higgins Electric Inc. Watson was also a founding board member of the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind.
Watson has also seen the importance of education through research and scholarship, establishing the John H. and Gail Watson Professorship, which is held by Hari Narayanan, chair of the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering. Watson and his wife, Gail, are members of the university’s Foy Society, 1856 Founders Circle, the college’s Ginn Society, and EAGLE Society, as well as athletics’ Oaks Society. Through his commitment to Alabama, Auburn University, and engineering, Watson was inducted into the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 2008.
