Caesar Garcia, a student in AU’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, was named a member of the Academic All-Stars First Team. He is the only student from a college or university in Alabama to be selected for the first team.

Joshua Jarrell, a student in AU’s College of Sciences and Mathematics, was selected for the Academic Second Team.

Started in 1996, the program honors 60 undergraduates as representatives of all outstanding students at the nation’s colleges and universities. Twenty students were named respectively to the first, second and third teams. Honorable mention honors were given to an additional 24 students.

Caesar Garcia – 2005 College Academic All-Stars First Team

A mechanical engineering major with a 3.91 grade-point average, Garcia has excelled both athletically and academically.

“My first response was surprise,” Garcia said of being named to the All-Academic Team. “I’m used to receiving athletic awards. This is an academic award which makes it a special honor.”

A championship diver and member of AU’s varsity swimming and diving team, Garcia’s outstanding career culminated this past summer with an Olympic Team berth on the platform. Garcia also won back-to-back NCAA titles on the platform, the only man to ever accomplish that feat, while also winning the SEC title in the same event in back-to-back seasons. He was named the 2004 NCAA Diver of the Year.

A Walter Byers Award finalist for the top scholar-athlete in the country, Garcia was named the 2004 College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-American of the Year and was the SEC’s 2004 H. Boyd McWhorter Award winner, the highest honor the SEC bestows on student athletes.

A native of Baton Rouge, Garcia is a nine-time All-American and winner of the 2004 NCAA Top VIII Award, which recognizes the top eight NCAA division one student athletes for accomplishments in both academics and athletics.

“Caesar’s academic success is especially impressive considering his extracurricular accomplishments as a student athlete,” Larry Benefield, dean of AU’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, said. “In addition to being an outstanding student and exceptional athlete, Caesar’s courteous manner, infectious spirit and devotion to community service make him the ‘best of the best’.”

Garcia was named the Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Student of the Year in 2003. He is a member of the Cupola Engineering Society, where he serves as executive chair, and is active in the Catholic Student Organization.

Among his other accolades, Garcia began a character counseling program at Yarborough Elementary School based on the NCAA’s life skills division that increases the emphasis of good character among young children.

“I’m proud of the education I received here, proud that I am able to represent Auburn and Auburn engineering, and proud to be among a group of awardees that includes representatives from some of the nation’s top schools,” Garcia said. “I always knew Auburn was a great school; this award affirms it.”

Joshua Jarrell – 2005 All-USA College Academic Second Team

Jarrell is a senior majoring in applied mathematics from Richmond, Va. With a 3.93 overall grade-point average, Jarrell has maintained a perfect 4.0 in all his mathematics classes.

“I was pretty humbled,” Jarrell said upon hearing he had been named to the second team. “You look at all the teams and you see the things that others have done and they are so spectacular. It is just hard to see myself in the same category with the other recipients.”

In addition to his accomplishments at Auburn, Jarrell is a member of the Army Reserve and was on active duty in Iraq from May 2003 to May 2004. He is currently the youngest staff sergeant in his unit.

Named the 2003 Auburn Mathematics Department Outstanding Junior, Jarrell was also named to the 2002-2003 National Deans List, which represents approximately one percent of the country’s undergraduate students.

He was twice named Soldier of the Year for his company and received the honor again for his battalion and Area Support Group. The award is given to the top soldier at various levels of command each year. Jarrell was also the youngest soldier to graduate from the military’s Primary Leadership Development Course, where he was named Distinguished Honor Graduate and received the Leadership Award.

In addition to his military pursuits, Jarrell is a member of Navigators, an interdenominational ministry on AU’s campus, and INTERACT, a student-driven community service club. As part of the organization, Jarrell volunteered at a local retirement home, where he played piano once a week.

Jarrell has played piano most of his life and has taken several music classes at AU. In 2002, he spent an entire semester in Tasmania studying classical piano at the University of Tasmania’s Conservatory of Music.

“Josh is a rare find – a Renaissance man proficient both in the sciences and the arts,” said Lawrence Wit, professor and associate dean of AU’s College of Sciences and Mathematics. “He is certainly one of the most broadly gifted students I have observed in nearly 30 years of teaching.”

During his time in Iraq, he taught remedial math to soldiers who wanted to qualify for higher level jobs in and out of the military, in addition to his regular duties. He now participates in the Auburn Math Educator’s Society.

Since his return from Iraq, Jarrell has become involved with the Big Brother/Big Sister Organization, where he mentors a young boy. He is active in the martial arts and participated in AU’s club wrestling program.

Jarrell plans to continue his education in an M.D./Ph.D. program in bioengineering and work with prosthetics to make them responsive and moveable.

“This award makes me feel more confident that I can pursue this goal. It is very exciting,” he said.