8/21/02

AU ALUMNI HONORS FOUR WITH 2002 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

AUBURN -- Three prominent Auburn University alumni and a beloved former dean have been named recipients of the Auburn Alumni Association's Lifetime Achievement Awards for 2002.

The awards will be presented to Millard Fuller of Americus, Ga., co-founder of Habitat for Humanity International, and James E. Foy of Auburn, retired dean of students, during a black-tie dinner and ceremony Oct. 11 at the AU Hotel and Dixon Conference Center.

Also to be honored posthumously at the ceremony will be Jeff Beard, a former Auburn athlete and athletic director; and William Kelly Mosley, who was a nationally prominent conservationist and philanthropist. Beard died in 1995, while Mosley died in 2001.

Betty DeMent, vice president of alumni affairs, said the recipients "not only attained prominence in their professional careers, they have proven themselves to be people of the highest integrity, stature, and ability."

The award -- the highest honor bestowed by the Auburn Alumni Association -- was established two years ago to recognize extraordinary accomplishment by members of the Auburn family.

Fuller, a 1957 Auburn graduate, left a business and legal career that had made him a millionaire before he turned 30 and began a search for spiritual fulfillment that ultimately led to the creation of the internationally-renowned program to eliminate substandard housing throughout the world -- Habitat for Humanity.

Since founding Habitat in 1976, Fuller and his wife, Linda, have become world leaders in addressing the issues of poverty housing. In 2000, Habitat passed the 100,000-home mark worldwide and completely eradicated substandard housing in Sumter County, Ga., where the organization is based.

Fuller has received numerous awards for his work, including the Medal of Freedom from Former President Bill Clinton in 1996 and the AU College of Human Sciences International Quality of Life Award in 2000.

Foy is affectionately known by generations of the Auburn family as simply "Dean Foy" in recognition of his quarter century as Auburn's dean of student affairs. In that post, he became a vital influence in the lives of Auburn students, initiating innumerable programs and activities for their benefit and development.

A two-time recipient of the American Red Cross Award of Honor for his efforts in leading Auburn students to several world records for blood donations, Foy earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Alabama and his Ph.D. from Michigan State University. As a Navy fighter pilot in World War II, he was awarded the Air Medal in 1943.

After retiring from Auburn in 1978, he served as executive secretary to the governor during the administration of Fob James. He later was national executive secretary of Phi Eta Sigma freshman honor society. Auburn's Student Union, built in 1953, was named in his honor. He and his wife Emmalu live in Auburn.

Garland Washington "Jeff" Beard could be considered the father of modern Auburn athletics. Serving as athletic director from 1951 through 1972, Beard hired legendary coach Ralph "Shug" Jordan, increased the capacity of what is now Jordan-Hare Stadium from 21,500 to 61,500 seats and is responsible for bringing Auburn home football games with Georgia Tech, Georgia and Tennessee to campus. His tenure also produced the basketball arena now named in his honor, the Wilbur Hutsell Track and Field complex and Sewell Hall. Beard is one of only five Auburn athletic directors who also didn't serve as head football coach.

Beard came to Auburn in 1928, where, as a member of the track team he set an Auburn record in the discus that stood for three decades. Graduating in 1932, he joined the athletic staff the next year, serving in a variety of positions, including assistant track coach, football program manager, cameraman and business manager.

After becoming athletic director, Beard guided campus sports to an all-time high. With four of Auburn's major sports teams winning Southeastern Conference championships in a four-year period, Auburn athletes also won honors ranging from NCAA post-graduate scholarships to the Heisman Trophy and Olympic medals.

Mosley, a 1924 graduate of Auburn, retired in 1963 as vice president for public relations at Southern Bell, the forerunner to BellSouth. Although nationally prominent in the communications field during his 40-year career, Mosley became widely known after his retirement as a conservation leader and champion of higher education.

For more than three decades, he was a leading benefactor of his alma mater, where he established lectureships, professorships, and conservation award programs. While contributing generously to Auburn, Mosley also recruited other benefactors to the university.

As chairman of the Atlanta-based John and Mary Franklin Foundation, he was instrumental in establishing Auburn's first and most prominent lecture series, the Franklin Lectures in Science and Humanities, now the Littleton-Franklin Lecture Series.

Twice elected president of the Auburn Alumni Association, he received an honorary doctorate from Auburn in 1973 in recognition of his leadership within the alumni ranks and his support for the university. He had won awards from Auburn's humanities and engineering programs and from various statewide conservation groups, including the Algernon Sidney Sullivan Humanitarian Award.

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