Leanne Dillard, associate professor and Extension specialist in the Department of Animal Sciences, is the recipient of the Award for Excellence in Faculty Outreach, honored for her impactful work connecting research with practical solutions to challenges facing Alabama’s livestock farmers.
Auburn forage specialist honored for outstanding outreach
Dillard is the recipient of the 2025 Auburn University Award for Excellence in Faculty Outreach. The award honors the engagement of exemplary faculty members and demonstrates the tremendous impact outreach has on the community, state, nation and beyond.
Selma is rebuilding after the 2023 tornado with help from Auburn University and partners. Through the Rural Studio Front Porch Initiative, the coalition is constructing resilient, affordable homes and creating a long-term housing strategy to revitalize neighborhoods, strengthen safety standards and support sustainable community recovery.
Auburn Outreach honored Portia Johnson with the Royrickers Cook Engagement Award for her leadership in financial education and community engagement. Johnson’s Alabama FAST initiative has helped more than 10,000 families navigate college financing, boosting FAFSA completion statewide. Her work continues to expand through educator training and career-focused resources.
Auburn Across Alabama’s fourth faculty tour explored Escambia, Atmore, Mobile and Fairhope, connecting academics with communities through agriculture, cultural heritage and food systems. Highlights included Africatown’s legacy, tribal food security, and Gulf Coast research. The experience fosters partnerships and transforms outreach into sustained engagement, reinforcing Auburn’s land-grant mission statewide.
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Engagement & Community Impact
Ghana service-learning program resumes
Planning in the Black Belt Alabama project
Tiger Giving Day empowers students of all ages and communities
GEDI meets students at the intersection of classroom and community
OLLI Shares:
Five years of collaboration and community
Auburn's Rural Health Initiative:
Expanding access, strengthening communities
Woven with passion:
The Vine Man visits Pebble Hill
Award-winning humorist embraces commonly used phrase (EOA)
Expanding horizons:
Faculty engagement in GEAR UP Achieve enriches summer camp experiences
Connections across counties:
Rural Health Connect places students in communities across Alabama
Impacting patient care nationwide:
Harrison College of Pharmacy's role in the Drug Effectiveness Review Project
HCOP recognized by ACPE for 50 years of accredited continuing education
Years of service
Sam Gaston's legacy:
From the plains to public service
Hope Stockton's impact endures
Out and About:
Outreach Global celebrates annual Global Community Day Festival
Students and faculty invited to participate in 2026 Ghana Service-Learning Program
Patricia Bloser retires from OPCE
Agriculture program provides opportunities for high school students
All In All Pink 2025
Breast Cancer and General Health Awareness Event photo gallery
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The transformative power of engagement
This issue of Beyond Auburn will introduce you to a wide range of outreach and community engagement initiatives. These include promoting youth educational attainment and career preparation, advancing agricultural best practices, expanding access to healthcare, and many more beneficial initiatives. Indeed, Auburn University’s outreach and extension programs are having a real impact in the lives of people all across Alabama and beyond. Notably in this issue are accounts of two Auburn faculty members who recently were honored with the university’s annual awards for exemplary outreach scholarship and accomplishments in community engagement.
This fall, Portia Johnson, financial resource management extension specialist in the College of Human Sciences was named recipient of the Royrickers Cook Engagement Award recognizing her career achievements in financial education and community engagement. A centerpiece of her work is Alabama FAST (FAFSA Application Survival Toolkit), a statewide initiative she launched in 2022. Through a student guide and materials on the Alabama Extension website, Alabama FAST provides information and guidance on obtaining and financing post-secondary educational opportunities. To date, Dr. Johnson’s outreach has benefited more than 10,000 students in some ninety high schools across Alabama.
Receiving this year’s Auburn University Award for Excellence in Faculty Outreach is Leanne Dillard, associate professor and extension specialist in the Department of Animal Sciences, College of Agriculture. Her outreach accomplishments exemplify Auburn’s commitment to advancing Alabama’s industrial and economic impact. As director of the Alabama Forage Focus Program, Dr. Dillard’s research and engagement work serves Alabama’s $2.5 billion beef industry through Extension offices in all 67 counties, serving thousands of producers, and documenting substantial gains in productivity.
For more than a quarter century, University Outreach has supported excellent faculty outreach through our awards programs, competitive scholarship grants, our collaborative initiatives across campus, and by telling the stories of these exemplars through Beyond Auburn. It is through these recognitions that we amplify the transformative power of Auburn’s community engagement to even greater impact. I am continuingly inspired by the work of these great projects and initiatives. I hope that you too will be inspired to make a difference through community engagement and outreach.
Join me in making that difference!
War Eagle,
Royrickers Cook, Ph.D.
Vice President for University Outreach
and Associate Provost
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Beyond Auburn is published by Auburn University twice per year by the Office of the Vice President for University Outreach.
Royrickers Cook, Ph.D.
Vice President for University Outreach and Associate Provost
Publication team:
Auburn Advancement Communications
Kelley Young, writer
Machaira Christopher, writer
Jennifer Fincher, editor
Joyce Thomas-Vinson, writer, editor
Dioselin Cruz, community outreach writer
Janie Echols-Brown, graphic designer, magazine art director
Contributors and sources:
Auburn Advancement Communications
Hollie Cost, Assistant Vice President for University Outreach and Public Service
Scott Godwin, Harrison College of Pharmacy
Olivia Houlden; Elizabeth Essamuah-Quansah, director, Outreach Global
Savanna Martin, Binita Mahato, College of Liberal Arts
Cassie Montgomery, Truman Pierce Institute, College of Education
Ryan Moss; Anna-Margaret Goldman, director, Center for Educational Outreach and Engagement
Laura Hill, Encyclopedia of Alabama
Cheryl Lumpkin; Scott Bishop, director, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
Linda Gibson-Young, professor, College of Nursing
Jennifer Ryan; Jeremy Arthur, director, Government & Economic Development Institute
Emery Tschetter, Hope Stockton, assistant vice president for University Outreach and Professional and Continuing Education
Jocelyn Vickers, director, Office of Public Service
Amy Wadsworth Register, Chippewa Thomas, director, Faculty Engagement
Ralph Foster Jr., assistant vice president, emeritus
Additional photography:
AU Photographic Services
Tanisha Stephens, www.intownimagery.com
Nathaly Norman (Faculty Awards Ceremony)
Chipola (©Keith Isaacs (Rural Studio)
Tim Ory, GEDI
Submit news items and story ideas to Joyce Thomas-Vinson,
Beyond Auburn coordinator & Outreach writer, thomaj5@auburn.edu.
For more information, contact Janie Echols-Brown,
Outreach communications & marketing manager, outnews@auburn.edu,
(334) 844-5120 or visit Auburn University Outreach.
Office of the Vice President for University Outreach
202 Samford Hall
Auburn, Alabama 36849
(334) 844-5700
All rights reserved by Auburn University © 2025. Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/employer.
