This year, as we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and the College of Agriculture at Auburn University, we reflect upon the impact our college and graduates have made on our state, our region, our country and our world. While this year has been a time of change in the college, it has been one of the most exciting times here at Auburn in my more than 30 years with the university.

For those of you who don’t know me, I am Steve Taylor and I am the interim dean of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. I assumed the role in April after Dr. Chris Roberts was named as Auburn University’s 21st president. Here in the college, we are eternally grateful for Dr. Roberts’ leadership during the past 10 years and we are thrilled to see him now leading the university and charting its course as one of the preeminent universities in the nation.

Prior to his ascension as president, Dr. Roberts and I had the pleasure of working on several big and bold projects that will help propel Auburn Engineering and the university into the next 150 years. Among those projects includes the Auburn University Research and Innovation Campus in Huntsville and the Auburn University Gulf Coast Engineering Research Station in Orange Beach.

We opened the doors to the Research and Innovation Campus, located in Cummings Research Park, in October on what was a monumental day for Auburn. Much like Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did in 1969, we planted the Auburn flag in Huntsville, one of America’s most important science and technology hubs. You might even say that a different eagle has landed.

In November, the university’s Board of Trustees approved a proposal to form the Auburn University Applied Research Institute, which will be housed at the Research and Innovation Campus in Huntsville. This new institute will help us focus even more on developing solutions to the tough problems of our government and industry partners in places such as Huntsville and beyond. We will soon begin a search for an institute director.

This wonderful news came on the heels of another huge announcement as the university’s Board of Trustees approved the Gulf Coast Engineering Research Station project. You can read more about these historic moves by the college in this issue.

While it’s been a pleasure and a tremendous honor to serve as interim dean, a national search for a permanent dean has begun and interviews will begin in the spring. I’m confident that the committee Interim Provost Vini Nathan has assembled will select a candidate who has Auburn University and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s best interest at heart, and who has a desire to propel Auburn forward as the best student-centered engineering experience in America. Auburn’s path and course has never been greater, and we are beyond grateful for the support of our alumni, corporate partners and friends who believe in our students, faculty, staff, mission and vision to continue to position Auburn Engineering among the nation’s elite.

War Eagle!

Steven E. Taylor