< Previous40 AUBURN UNIVERSITY AUBURNTIGERS.COM Auburn University is a comprehen- sive land-, sea- and space-grant institu- tion with a renowned history of pioneer- ing research, life-changing outreach and innovative instruction. Auburn students, graduates and faculty transform the fruits of the university’s research and scholarship, becoming problem solvers and thought leaders. More than 33,000 students are en- rolled on the picturesque, 1,841-acre campus known as “The Loveliest Village on the Plains.” Throughout the years, the institution has had four official names: East Alabama Male College (1856-72), Agricultural and Mechanical College (1872-99), Alabama Polytechnic Insti- tute (1899-1960) and Auburn University (1960-present). Students can choose from more than 175 majors in 12 colleges at the under- graduate and graduate levels. Auburn has awarded some 325,000 degrees in everything from agriculture to zoology. The university provides real-world learning laboratories where students can gain experience and leadership princi- ples, better preparing them to compete in the marketplace and make meaning- ful contributions to society. When stu- dents arrive on campus, they find more than 600 clubs and organizations to dis- cover, enriching their educational expe- rience outside the classroom. In addition to societal impact, Auburn makes a $6.3 billion yearly economic impact in the state of Alabama and is designated as an Innovation and Economic Prosperity University by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. Auburn is led by President Christo- pher B. Roberts, who began his appoint- ment as its 21st president in May 2022. Roberts began his tenure at Auburn as an assistant professor in the Depart- ment of Chemical Engineering and became the department chair in 2003. Roberts served as the dean of Auburn’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering from 2012-22. Generations of alumni have been propelled to success by their Auburn ed- ucation. The list of accomplished alumni includes the CEO of Apple, the founders of Habitat for Humanity and Wikipedia, an Oscar-winning actress, many sports legends and six astronauts. Auburn alumni make up a worldwide network of more than 250,000-strong. The Au- burn Alumni Association has more than 34,000 life members. The Auburn vol- unteer network is composed of more than 100 Auburn Clubs and Affiliate Groups throughout the country, each dedicated to ensuring all Auburn alumni and friends are meaningfully connected back to their institution. Tigers Who Yell “War Eagle!” Aubie the Tiger is the university’s mascot, and all Auburn athletic teams are nicknamed the Tigers. “War Ea- gle” is the battle cry. For more than 100 years, eagles have been associ- ated with Auburn’s football program, and, since 2000, an eagle has flown above the crowds before home foot- ball games. To the Auburn Family, it’s very simple: They are the Tigers who yell “War Eagle!” Auburn retired its famed golden ea- gle Nova, War Eagle VII, in November 2019 and named golden eagle Aurea as War Eagle VIII. Aurea, now a 11-year-old female, is Auburn’s eighth official War Eagle to carry on the storied tradition of golden eagles at Auburn football games. The Auburn University Raptor Cen- ter, a division of Auburn’s College of Vet- erinary Medicine, also flies a bald eagle, Independence, at home games. Better known as Indy, Auburn’s newest eagle made her Auburn pre-game flight de- but during the 2021 football season. The center’s mission includes participating in raptor conservation efforts, educating the public about their importance and rehabilitating and releasing injured and orphaned raptors. All raptors featured in educational programs, including pre- game flights, are non-releasable due to injury or human imprinting. Their pres- ence reminds us why their kin must be protected. AUBURN UNIVERSITY: MAKING A SOCIETAL IMPACT Samford Hall, Auburn University42 BOARD OF TRUSTEES AUBURNTIGERS.COM WAYNE T. SMITH (Nashville, Tenn.) Healthcare Executive At Large ZEKE SMITH (Birmingham) Utility Executive At Large JAMES H. SANFORD (Prattville) Agriculture Executive President Pro Tempore Fourth District BOB DUMAS (Auburn) Retired Banking Executive Third District - Lee CLARK SAHLIE (Montgomery) Business Executive Second District WILLIAM P. AINSWORTH (Guntersville) Retired Transportation Executive Fifth District ELIZABETH HUNTLEY (Clanton) Attorney Sixth District JAMES W. RANE (Abbeville) Business Executive Third District CAROLINE M. ANDERHOLT (Haleyville) Nonprofit Executive Seventh District MICHAEL A. DEMAIORIBUS (Huntsville) Retired Technology Executive Eighth District JAMES PRATT (Birmingham) Attorney Ninth District WALT WOLTOSZ (Auburn) Chairman, Simulations Plus Inc. At Large GOV. KAY IVEY President (Ex-officio) B.T. ROBERTS (Mobile) Commercial Real Estate Executive First District QUENTIN P. RIGGINS (Birmingham) Utility Executive At Large TIMOTHY VINES (Birmingham) Healthcare Insurance Executive At Large SHERRI M. WILLIAMS Deputy Board Secretary JON G. WAGGONER Board Secretary44 UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT AUBURNTIGERS.COM Christopher B. Roberts began his ap- pointment as Auburn University’s 21st president in May 2022. President Roberts leads the univer- sity’s four divisions, including Auburn’s main campus with its more than 33,000 students and 6,500 faculty and staff, as well as Auburn University at Montgom- ery, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, a joint enterprise with Alabama A&M University. Roberts is an accomplished scholar who under- stands that research and teaching excel- lence, together with service and public engagement, are at the very heart of the state’s R1 land-, sea- and space-grant institution. The R1 designation in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education recognizes Auburn as a top-level research institution. As the university’s CEO, Roberts marshals the institution’s $1.85 billion annual budget and vast resources, while spearheading the university’s strategic vision and ad- vancing Auburn’s ever-growing research enterprise and economic development. Prior to his presidency, Roberts served as the dean of Auburn’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering from 2012 to 2022. The college has more than 6,000 students and about 500 faculty and staff members. Roberts was a factor in the success of the university’s Because This is Auburn — A Campaign for Auburn University, which raised $1.2 billion. Under Roberts’ leadership, more than $357 million in dona- tions to the college were made during and since the campaign. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engi- neering from the Univer- sity of Missouri and mas- ter’s and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame. He began his career at Auburn in 1994 as an assistant pro- fessor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and became department chair in 2003. He also served as the George E. and Dorothy Stafford Uth- laut Professor of Chemical Engineering. He has a strong record of scholarly and academic achievement in nanotechnology and synthetic fu- els. Roberts has published close to 150 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters in leading chemical engineer- ing, chemistry, materials and related journals and has given over 300 con- ference presentations, invited seminars and lectures. He has received 45 re- search grants and contracts from gov- ernment agencies and corporations, such as the National Science Founda- tion, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Defense, the USDA- Agriculture and Food Research Initia- tive and Boeing. He has been honored with numer- ous awards for his accomplishments and contributions to the field of engi- neering. Some of those recognitions include the University of Notre Dame’s Graduate School Distinguished Alum- nus Award in 2015; the University of Missouri’s Chemical Engineering Acad- emy of Distinguished Alumni in 2014; and the SEC Academic Consortium Faculty Achievement Award in 2012. He and his wife, Tracy, have two chil- dren and enjoy cheering on Auburn’s national championship-winning Division 1 athletics programs. DR. CHRISTOPHER B. ROBERTS, PRESIDENTYOU COULD WIN UP TO VISITALAMHA.ORG/CONTESTFOR MORE INFO $75,000 During select SEC games this year, if Auburn returns its first received kick of the second half for a touchdown or scores on the first three plays after that kick, one lucky fan could win up to $75,000 toward the purchase of a new manufactured home from an AMHA retailer. TOWARDS A MANUFACTURED HOME46 DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS AUBURNTIGERS.COM John Cohen, who has more than two decades of experience as a head coach and administrator in the Southeastern Conference, was named the 16th athletics director at Auburn University on Oct. 31, 2022. During Cohen’s first three years on the Plains, the Tigers have achieved tremendous success, highlighted by men’s golf winning the 2024 NCAA championship, the 30th national championship in the history of Auburn Athletics. Auburn has also earned a pair of national runner-up finishes from men’s track & field (2024) and equestrian (2023), and a Final Four appearance by men’s basketball (2025). Auburn has claimed five SEC Championships during Cohen’s tenure, and all 21 programs have advanced to their respective NCAA postseason tournaments. Individually, Auburn student- athletes have also garnered incredible honors. Ja’Kobe Tharp won NCAA titles in 2025 in 60m hurdles (indoors) and 110m hurdles (outdoors). Auburn’s 4x100m relay team won consecutive NCAA outdoor titles in 2024 and 2025. Jackson Koivun, in 2023-24, became the first collegiate golfer to sweep the Fred Haskins, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson national awards in the same season. In 2025, Koivun became the SEC’s first repeat champion in 49 years. Consensus All-American Johni Broome was named 2025 SEC Player of the Year and Sporting News National Player of the Year. Equestrian’s Avery Glynn was the 2025 SEC and NCEA Rider of the Year in fences. Likewise, Auburn student-athletes have excelled academically, earning at least a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher each semester during Cohen’s tenure. Fundraising and ticket sales have reached new heights under Cohen’s stewardship, including the largest single capital donation in Auburn Athletics history from Robin and Reid Dove supporting the future Jordan- Hare Stadium North End Zone Multi- Use Facility. From 2022-25, donations supporting Auburn athletics nearly doubled from the preceding three-year average. Season ticket sales in football and baseball have also reached all-time highs. Cohen also reimagined spaces in Jordan-Hare Stadium and Neville Arena to diversify premium options. The Locker Room Club opened prior to the 2024 football season and the Sharon and Robert Maddox Club opened prior to the 2024-25 basketball season. Auburn has invested heavily in capital projects under Cohen’s leadership. After opening the innovative Woltosz Football Performance Center shortly after taking the helm, Cohen turned his attention to the $30 million Plainsman Park expansion and renovation, which was completed before the 2025 season. A state-of-the-art medical and athletic training facility opened prior to the Fall 2025 semester, offering on- site physician, physical therapy, sport psychology and athletic training services to all Auburn student-athletes. Other projects include a new video board in the north end zone of Jordan-Hare Stadium an expansion of team and offices spaces for men’s and women’s basketball, more than doubling their previous footprint; and the addition of a volleyball training facility. Cohen has also inked strategic partnerships that fortify Auburn’s position as one of the premier brands in college athletics. In April 2024, Auburn reached a 10-year agreement to switch apparel providers to Nike. The Tigers also negotiated a new 10-year extension with Playfly Sports to continue Auburn’s multimedia rights partnership. The new agreement doubled the partnership’s anticipated average annual value and included innovative opportunities for Auburn student-athletes to earn name, image and likeness opportunities as the revenue sharing era of college athletics takes hold. Cohen’s career in college athletics began as a baseball player at Mississippi State before entering the coaching ranks for 25 years. A two-time SEC Coach of the Year, he was named MSU’s athletics director on November 4, 2016, and led the Bulldog program to record-breaking success athletically, academically and in capital project campaigns. Athletically, Cohen oversaw arguably the greatest era in Bulldog history, highlighted by a 2021 College World Series Championship – the school’s first team national title in any sport. A total of five Bulldog programs turned in a program-best season with Cohen at the helm of the department, including softball (2022), baseball (2021), volleyball (2021), soccer (2018) and women’s basketball (2017, 2018). After beginning his stint as the head baseball coach at MSU in July 2008, Cohen’s official role in administration began in 2016 when he assumed the role of associate athletic director in addition to head baseball coach. As the head coach at MSU, Cohen led the Bulldogs to the 2013 College World Series finals, an SEC regular season championship and an SEC Tournament title. In the classroom, 133 of his players were named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll, including three straight SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year winners from 2013-15. As a baseball player for the Bulldogs, Cohen was a key member of the 1989 SEC Champion and 1990 College World Series teams. He graduated from MSU with a degree in English and earned a master’s degree in sports management from Missouri. Prior to becoming the head coach at MSU, Cohen’s coaching career included assistant coaching stops at Missouri (1992-97) and Florida (2002-03) and head coaching stops at Northwestern State (1998-2001) and Kentucky (2004- 08). Along with winning 284 games as a head coach at MSU, 138 of Cohen’s players were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, and numerous assistants, including Auburn’s Butch Thompson, are now or have been SEC head coaches. Cohen is one of just two individuals who have played, coached and later served as director of athletics for a program participating in the College World Series. He is the only coach in SEC history to win an SEC championship, SEC Tournament title, and advance to the College World Series both as a player and head coach. Click here for more on JOHN COHEN JOHN COHEN DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS® With 17 locations in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida to serve you! Stop by today to check out The World’s Best ® . We’re Hiring! View current job openings here!48 THROUGH THE LENS: BALL STATE AUBURNTIGERS.COM THROUGH THE LENS129 E. Glenn Ave. (Downtown) (334) 209-6390 1673 Shug Jordan Pkwy. Suite A (334) 209-1295 1684 S. College St. (334) 209-1140 Serving Auburn for over 40 years “Bertha!”Next >