It’s a great time to be an Auburn engineer!
The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering had a record-breaking year, eclipsing 6,700 students, securing $117.7 million in new research awards and contracts, awarding nearly $6 million in scholarships and much more.
Our undergraduate students are consistently recognized across the nation — and the globe — for their academic achievements, while our graduate student body continues to grow, produce impactful research that changes lives for the better and drives innovation and entrepreneurship.
Since 2018, our new research awards and contracts have grown more than 300% in FY24. Our faculty is relentless in pursuing opportunities for the advancement of science, submitting 544 proposals this year requesting $458 million in research funding.
To support these students, faculty and staff, our alumni and friends have continued to show their steadfast dedication to this place we all love and believe in. Our fundraising efforts once again surpassed expectations, bringing in more than $36 million to assist the college in its mission to provide the best student-centered engineering experience in America.
We are beyond grateful and humbled by the support of the thousands of Auburn engineers who donate their time, talent and treasure each year to ensure the next generation is afforded that truly unique Auburn experience.
One such alumnus, Jeff Hills, ’93 civil engineering, made a $10 million pledge that will provide more than 300 scholarships to Auburn Engineering students during the next 20 years, making it the largest single commitment to scholarships in Auburn University history. The Jeffery S. Hills Scholarship will provide financial assistance to first-generation students from the state of Alabama who are in financial need. The program will provide students with a scholarship covering tuition, fees, room and board for their first two years and then half of all costs for the remaining years in hopes that students will have secured co-ops or internships in their junior and senior years.
As Auburn men’s basketball head coach Bruce Pearl says, that’s just “Auburn being Auburn.”
Similarly, close friends Larry and Mary Montgomery believe in Auburn so much that the Montgomery Family Foundation has made a significant investment in the college that allowed us to completely renovate the Design and Manufacturing Laboratory and surrounding spaces and equip it with the latest and greatest technologies. As you’ll read in this magazine, the new Montgomery Advanced Manufacturing Laboratories will give our students the hands-on learning experiences they need for the future.
Indeed, it’s a great time to be an Auburn engineer, and I am eager to see what 2025 will hold.
War Eagle!
Mario R. Eden
