AUBURN -- Dwight L. Carlisle Jr., former president and chief executive officer of the Russell Corporation, will receive an honorary doctor of science degree from Auburn University during fall quarter commencement on Monday, Dec. 11.

Auburn will present the honorary degree at a 2:30 p.m. commencement ceremony in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum. AU expects to award 1,059 degrees at the ceremony, including 816 bachelor's degrees, 199 master's and specialist degrees and 43 doctorates.

Carlisle, who is the 132nd person to receive an honorary degree from Auburn in the institution's 139-year history, devoted his career to the Russell Corporation. He began working for the Alexander City-based company while a cooperative education student at Auburn in the 1950s and joined the company full-time following his graduation with a degree in textile engineering in 1958.

Russell became the nation's leading manufacturer of athletic apparel and strengthened its position in the textile and apparel industries during his years with the company. Carlisle was named to the company's board of directors in 1975, became president and COO in 1982 and president and chief executive officer in 1988. He retired in 1991, capping a 35-year career with the company.

Carlisle, who was named Alexander City's "Man of the Year" in 1989, was president of the Alabama Textile Manufacturers Association; chairman of the board of directors of the National Knitwear Manufacturers Association; chairman of various industry committees; and on the Board of directors of the American Apparel Manufacturers Association.

He is a member of the boards of directors for Aliant Corporation, the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, Russell Bryant-Jordan Scholar Athlete Program and Friends of Alabama Archives.

At Auburn, Carlisle served on the Auburn Alumni Engineering Council, the Advisory Committee of the School of Business and the AU Research Advisory Council. He received the Distinguished Auburn Engineer Award in 1989.

AU at Montgomery expects to confer 274 degrees at its commencement on Dec. 12, bringing to 179,364 the number of degrees presented by Auburn University since the first graduation at Auburn in 1860. About 160,000 of the total have been presented at the main campus, with 19,000 at AUM.

dec95:AU-fall