Auburn Alumni Association Lifetime Achievement

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2008 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients

Four men and women highly accomplished in such diverse fields as publishing, coaching, dentistry and horticulture have been chosen to receive the Auburn Alumni Association’s highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award.

A black-tie dinner and induction ceremony on March 1, 2008, will honor the late Emory O. Cunningham, longtime publisher with the Southern Progress Corp. and later Time Inc.; Beverly Kearney, one of the most successful female track coaches of all time; C. Lloyd Nix, a community leader and successful dentist for 36 years; and James Taylor Pursell Sr., who revolutionized horticulture with his development of new fertilization technology.

Each year, the Auburn Alumni Association recognizes extraordinary accomplishment by members of the Auburn family. To be selected for the award, nominees must have attained prominence in their professional careers, and they must be persons of integrity, stature and demonstrated ability.

Emory O. Cunningham joined The Progressive Farmer Co. in Birmingham, Ala., shortly after his 1948 graduation from Auburn. Over the years, he moved through the ranks of the company, from salesman to advertising director to publisher. In 1968, he became president of the company, which became the Southern Progress Corp., and started the successful Southern Living and Cooking Light magazines. Under his leadership, Southern Progress became the largest regional publisher in the world before being acquired by Time Inc., where he served as a senior vice president. Cunningham passed away in 2000; his wife, Jeanne, lives in Birmingham.

Beverly Kearney followed her athletic success at Auburn—including being a two-time All-American and qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team in the 200 meter before her graduation in 1981—into a career as one of the most successful women’s track coaches of all time. Her teams at the University of Texas have won six NCAA titles and 19 conference titles, earning her National Coach of the Year honors four times. Kearney’s accomplishments are all the more inspiring considering she fought her way back from a horrific car accident in 2002 that left her seriously injured. A resident of Austin, Texas, she was inducted into the U.S. Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in December 2007.

Dr. C. Lloyd Nix, a 1959 graduate and quarterback of Auburn's 1957 national champion football team, has tirelessly served his community for more than 40 years while maintaining a successful dental practice. His involvement in the civic, religious and cultural life of Decatur and Morgan counties include serving as former president of the Morgan County Dental Association, former chairman of the Council on Ministries of Central United Methodist Church, and board member for the Alabama Institute Foundation for the Deaf and Blind. He is a former president of the Auburn Football Letterman's Club, the Auburn Alumni Association and the Morgan County Auburn Club. He served as former chairman of the Auburn Research Advisory Board and a member of the Auburn Universtiy Foundation. His tireless commitment and love for Auburn is evidenced also through his service on the Auburn University National Campaign Committee and recently as the co-chair for the North Alabama regional campaign. He and his wife, Sandy, live in Decatur.

James Taylor Pursell Sr. followed his 1952 Auburn graduation and military service by joining his father-in-law in the fertilizer business. He expanded the scope of the business, which became Pursell Technologies Inc., watching the company grow to become one of the largest manufacturers of controlled-release fertilizers in the world. Pursell’s development of POLYON, a continuous-feed fertilizer not impacted by weather, changed the industry. His most recent challenge has been developing and building an 18-hole golf course featured as the world’s first “Research and Demonstration” course. Pursell and his wife, Christine, live in Sylacauga.

The March 1st dinner to recognize the recipients of the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Awards will be held at the Auburn University Hotel and Dixon Conference Center.