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Auburn University President Christopher B. Roberts, Auburn Alumni Association Board of Directors President LuAnne L. Hart ’80, Parker Duffey ’06, John H. Watson ’60, Lester Howard Killebrew Sr. ’68, Carol Elsen Godfrey ’86, Gary R. Godfrey ’86, Gerald S. Leischuck ’64 and Chief Engagement Officer and Auburn Alumni Association Director Kurt Sasser ’11.

AUBURN, Ala. — The Auburn Alumni Association honored its 2024 class of Lifetime Achievement Award and Young Alumni Achievement Award recipients at a special ceremony on June 8.

The Lifetime Achievement Awards honor distinguished members of the Auburn Family for extraordinary accomplishments in their personal and professional lives, as well as dedication to the university. Noteworthy recent graduates in the midst of their careers are recognized with the Young Alumni Achievement Award.

Recipients are nominated by their peers and selected by a committee of Auburn administrators, trustees, faculty, students and alumni. Read more about past Lifetime Achievement Award recipients and the nomination process online.

2024 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients

Gary Ross Godfrey ’86 and Carol J. Godfrey ’86 of Roswell, Ga. — Gary, a former Auburn Basketball player, spent two decades as the global managing director of integrated planning and fulfillment at Accenture, consulting for brands like Walmart, AT&T and Heineken Breweries.

Carol is senior vice president of products and markets for Southwire’s energy division, helping expand the company’s markets and maintain its presence in the renewable energy industry. After Gary was diagnosed with ALS in 2019, the Godfreys became strong advocates for ALS awareness, raising millions of dollars in support for research.

Lester Killebrew Sr. ’68 of Abbeville, Ala. — Lester Killebrew Sr. is chairman of the board at SunSouth LLC, president and CEO of CCS Technology Centers, the head of Henry Farm Center, Inc. and holds the top position of the ATTA Library of STEM and History. Through CCS Technology, he was pivotal to the computerization of the Auburn Athletics Department.

Gerald S. Leischuck ’64 and Emily Reaves Leischuck ’64 (deceased) of Auburn, Ala. — Gerald served in the Office of Institutional Research as executive assistant to the president and secretary of the board of trustees. He was recognized as the College of Education’s 1988 Distinguished Alumnus.

Emily, who sadly passed in 2013, was a panhellenic advisor in the Office of the Dean of Women and spent 13 years as an assistant to the president and board of trustees. In 1988, Auburn named a campus residence hall at the Hill in her honor. In their retirement, the Leischucks created scholarship endowments at various schools and established the Gerald and Emily Leischuck Annual Teaching Awards Program in the College of Education.

John Holman Watson ’60 of Dothan, Ala. — John Watson is an entrepreneur and chairman of Smith’s Inc., whose other business ventures include Engineered Systems, Inc., which built Auburn’s indoor football practice facility; Higgins Electric, Inc.; and Aladan Inc., the largest latex glove producer in the nation. Watson was also a founding board member of the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind.

 2024 Young Alumni Achievement Award Recipient

Parker Edward Duffey ’06 of Auburn, Ala. — Parker Duffey is cofounder and CEO of the Auburn-based technology company Chptr, an operations platform launched in 2023 that streamlines the functions for Greek Life student organizations through web and mobile applications. In 2009 he founded Tailgate Guys, now known as REVELxp.