Auburn University

Auburn University is one of the largest universities in the South and is one of the only American university designated as a land-grant, sea-grant and space-grant research centre. It began in 1856 as the East Alabama Male College, and began admitting women in 1892. Today it is the oldest co-educational school for four-year degrees in the state. Situated in Auburn, a small town in Alabama with a population of 40,000, the university is within striking distance of the mountains and the beach, and is less than two hours away from the cities of Atlanta and Birmingham. Auburn is one of only five US universities conducting research into nuclear waste storage for recycling and is also a leading light in cyber operations research. It has been a land-grant university since 1872, originally focussed on agriculture, but now has a wide remit of arts and applied sciences. There are 13 colleges and schools, including its graduate school, which offer more than 140 programs, in 206 academic buildings on 1,841 acres. The Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center hosts ballets, plays and musicals and there is also a 29,000 square foot museum where the university’s extensive art collection is located, which includes work by Georgia O’Keefe, Jacob Lawrence, James Audubon and more. Auburn has a tradition dating back to 1930 whereby eagles are allowed to fly untethered over the football stadium at sports events. The most recent participant in this custom is an eagle called ‘Nova’. Athletics teams go by the name of Auburn Tigers, and compete in NCAA Division I, with 19 varsity teams in 13 sports and a strong women’s presence. Aubie the tiger has been the much-loved mascot of Auburn for over 30 years, representing the university at its football games and other sporting challenges. Auburn has produced six NASA astronauts in total, as well as three directors of the Kennedy Space Center. The university also has a strong alumni association comprising over 43,000 members.