AU ALUMNI ESTABLISH SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT TO BENEFIT BULLOCK COUNTY RESIDENTS

AUBURN - Auburn University alumni Alfred “Al” Foy Cook Jr. and his wife Dudley, of Opelika, have pledged $25,000 to their alma mater to establish the Al and Dudley Cook Endowment for scholarships to benefit students from Bullock County. The scholarship will be split equally between AU’s College of Business and College of Human Sciences.

Al is a 1978 AU graduate in business. During his 20-year career in economic development, he led two organizations to Site Selection Magazine’s ranking of “Top Ten Economic Development Organizations.” He now serves as director of the City of Opelika’s Economic Development Department.

Dudley, a 1973 AU graduate in family and child services, was a social worker for 25 years with the Alabama Department of Human Resources. After retiring from Alabama DHR, she launched a real estate career concentrating on sales of premier and waterfront properties in Alabama and northwest Florida.

When asked why he and Dudley established the endowment, Al said, “Bullock County and Union Springs provided me with an excellent education and value system. We wanted to help Auburn as well as my home county and felt this would be a great way to do both.”

“The Cooks’ scholarship endowment will benefit many generations of Auburn University students,” said Paul Bobrowski, dean and Wachovia Professor. “We are fortunate to have alumni who are generous and willing to make a difference.”

The gift and pledge count in the “It Begins at Auburn” campaign, the university’s multi-year fundraising effort. The campaign goal is to raise funds for all colleges and schools on campus as well as the AU Libraries, athletics, Auburn University at Montgomery and AU’s Jule Collins Smith Museum. The campaign’s focus includes student, faculty and program endowments; facility, equipment and campus beautification; research; and current operations.

The College of Business at Auburn University is accredited at the undergraduate and graduate levels by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the highest standard of achievement for business schools. Less than one-third of U.S. business schools and only 15 percent of business schools worldwide meet the rigorous standards of AACSB International accreditation. Institutions that earn accreditation confirm their commitment to quality and continuous improvement through a rigorous and comprehensive peer review.

(Contributed by Dina Kanellos.)

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Auburn University is a comprehensive land grant and research institution with more than 23,000 students and 6,500 faculty and staff. Ranked among the top 50 public universities nationally, Auburn offers more than 230 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs.

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