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With nearly 1,000 combined publications, more than 500 students mentored and $38 million in research funding, this year’s six Auburn University Alumni Professors represent a record-setting class. Their achievements reflect the university’s rising standard of excellence in teaching, research and service.
“These faculty members represent the highest standards of academic excellence at Auburn,” said President Christopher B. Roberts. “Their commitment to advancing scholarship and mentoring the next generation of leaders is central to our mission as a leading land-grant institution.”
Awarded annually by the Auburn Alumni Association, Alumni Professorships recognize tenured faculty who demonstrate exceptional achievement in teaching, research and service. Honorees are selected based on their leadership and impact across at least two of the university’s core mission areas.
The honorees will be formally recognized this fall at the Endowed Faculty Recognition Ceremony, hosted by the Office of the Provost, alongside other distinguished faculty members. Learn more about this year’s recipients below.
Leonardo De La Fuente
Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology
College of Agriculture
A member of Auburn’s faculty for 17 years, Leonardo De La Fuente is an internationally recognized leader in plant bacteriology, renowned for his groundbreaking research on the bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa.
Throughout his tenure on the Plains, De La Fuente has demonstrated a strong commitment to teaching and mentorship. He has served in multiple leadership roles, including departmental senator and graduate program officer, while also mentoring faculty and training more than 50 undergraduate researchers, 17 graduate students, five postdoctoral scholars and one research assistant.
His dedication to student success is evident in the more than 30 awards and fellowships his students have earned under his guidance. De La Fuente also extends his teaching globally, regularly offering courses in Italy, Spain and Uruguay.
In 2025, De La Fuente became the first Auburn faculty member — and one of only two American scientists — to receive funding from the prestigious EU Horizon program, the European Union’s flagship initiative supporting research and innovation to address global challenges. His research has generated more than $4 million in extramural funding from federal, state and international sources.
A profuse scholar, De La Fuente has delivered nearly 50 invited seminars and outreach presentations and authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, with over half co-authored by students. His contributions to undergraduate research were recognized with the Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring in 2015.
In recognition of his international impact and leadership in the field, De La Fuente was named a Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society in 2025, and he currently serves as editor-in-chief of "Phytopathology," the society’s flagship journal.
Lori Eckhardt
Integrated Forest Pathology and Entomology
College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment
With more than two decades of service in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Eckhardt has earned international recognition as an expert in plant health, forest pathology and entomology.
Her research portfolio, supported by $9 million in extramural funding, spans critical areas such as host-pathogen, host-insect and pathogen-insect interactions, as well as fungal and insect biology, forest ecology and overall forest health. This breadth of expertise has made her a highly sought-after subject-matter expert in both academic and applied settings. Eckhardt has authored more than 130 publications, including five book chapters, 63 peer-reviewed journal articles and 65 research outputs, with 15 additional manuscripts currently under review or in revision.
Her work has been shared widely through more than 600 scientific presentations and invited talks delivered to audiences ranging from local communities to international conferences, and she is regularly featured in media outlets for her insights and expertise.
In addition to her research and outreach, Eckhardt is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of scientists. She has chaired or co-chaired 19 graduate students, served on committees for 12 others and supervised 15 fellows and researchers. Her mentorship has extended to more than 125 graduate, undergraduate and high school students and interns — many of whom have gone on to earn more than 80 awards under her leadership.
In 2024, Eckhardt responded to more than 120 inquiries from homeowners and landowners seeking guidance on tree health and insect-related concerns, reflecting her strong commitment to community engagement. In recognition of her research, Eckhardt was awarded the 2025 Harry Murphy Award for Excellence in Faculty Research by the college.
In addition to her faculty role, Eckhardt is the founding director of Auburn’s Forest Health Cooperative and director of the Sudden Oak Death State Laboratories for Alabama and Mississippi. She also serves as academic editor for the "nternational Journal of Forest Research" and has held prominent service roles, including past chair of the Auburn University Senate, the southern region associate director and chapter president of Sigma Xi and president of the Alabama Council of University Faculty Presidents.
Brent Fox
Department of Health Outcomes Research and Policy
Harrison College of Pharmacy
A highly respected faculty mentor and educator, Fox currently serves as special assistant to the dean and director of student affairs in the Harrison College of Pharmacy. In this role, he also advises the college’s Student Ambassador program and Executive Student Council, helping shape student leadership and engagement across pharmacy education.
In addition, Fox also leads a range of mentoring initiatives through the college’s Villages program — an initiative designed to build community across the college and foster a supportive environment for students.
As a recognized authority in pharmacy informatics education and health information technology for 25 years, Fox’s contributions to research on the opioid epidemic, especially the role of prescription drug monitoring programs in combating the problem in Alabama and beyond, enabled him to become a founding member of Auburn’s Center for Opioid Research, Education and Outreach.
As a result, Fox has generated more than $8 million in extramural funding, including $2 million in the past two years, and has co-edited multiple textbooks on pharmacy informatics, including 25 book chapters and nearly 300 outreach articles on health information technology and given over 130 presentations.
A named fellow of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Fox has served on the organization’s Research Advisory Council for more than nine years and has received the Harrison College of Pharmacy Research Excellence Award 11 times, along with the prestigious Auburn Alumni Association Young Alumni Achievement Award, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Distinguished Service Award and the Harrison College of Pharmacy Excellence in Outreach Award.
Wei-Shinn (Jeff) Ku
Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering
Samuel Ginn College of Engineering
A professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering for 18 years, Ku is a leading expert in data science, mobile computing and cybersecurity, with work that focuses on mining, securing and managing spatial data. As director of Auburn’s Data Science and Engineering Laboratory, Ku leads collaborative research aimed at solving practical problems using advanced data-driven methods while also offering students hands-on experience through projects that bridge academic research and real-world applications.
With a scholarly portfolio that includes more than $4 million in extramural funding, including multiple grants from the National Science Foundation, Ku has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers in international journals and conferences generating more than 5,000 citations. Ku currently serves as associate editor for the "Journal of Information Science and Engineering" and previously held editorial roles with the "IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering" and the "IEEE Internet of Things Journal."
He has also chaired or co-chaired 11 international conferences and workshops and reviewed proposals for major funding agencies, including the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong and the Qatar National Research Fund. Furthermore, Ku has served as program director of the National Science Foundation's Division of Information and Intelligent Systems between 2019 and 2022.
As a mentor, Ku has guided 18 doctoral students to completion and advised more than 20 master’s and undergraduate students. His academic reach includes invited presentations at institutions such as the University of California, the State University of New York, National Taiwan University and National Cheng Kung University.
In recognition of his contributions, Ku has received the Auburn Alumni Engineering Council Research Award for Excellence twice and the Outstanding Reviewer Award from the 26th IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering.
JoEllen Sefton
School of Kinesiology
College of Education
Sefton, professor and director of the Warrior Research Center (WRC) and Neuromechanics Research Laboratory, has spent the past 19 years advancing research that directly supports the health, performance and safety of military personnel and tactical athletes.
Since founding the WRC in 2010, Sefton has focused on improving performance, resilience and wellness while reducing injuries through applied research, education and training. Her work has shaped practices across multiple branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Recent projects include methods to improve performance and safety in extreme environments, evaluations of metabolic load changes when using lower body exoskeletons, developing a new police fitness test and studying dietary supplements to improve fitness and heat tolerance in Tactical Athletes.
Through WRC, Sefton leads the biennial Tactical Athlete Summit, an international event that brings together researchers, military professionals, government, industry and practitioners to share knowledge and advance solutions for tactical populations.
Her research portfolio includes 65 peer-reviewed publications on injury prevention, performance and safety, 86 military technical reports, 10 white papers, 11 general publications and nine book chapters. She has also taught and developed more than 30 different courses and launched a graduate program — all while mentoring 20 doctoral students, more than 90 master’s students, 25 undergraduates and four postdoctoral researchers.
Sefton’s work has resulted in more than 240 research talks, 83 military briefings and dozens of poster presentations and panels. Her efforts have generated $13 million in grants and contracts and earned her 11 academic and 38 military awards, and, most recently, the 2024 award for Outstanding Faculty Outreach from University Outreach.
Ya-Xiong Tao
Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology
College of Veterinary Medicine
An internationally recognized scholar in the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying metabolic disorders, Tao has spent more than 35 years focused on developing therapeutics for both inherited and acquired forms of obesity. His work has resulted in 160 peer-reviewed publications in leading scientific journals and 56 research abstracts, reflecting the depth and impact of his contributions to the field.
In addition to his research output, Tao has edited 10 books, served on over 20 editorial boards and held similar roles with 23 academic journals. His published work has been cited more than 7,300 times, and he has received the Auburn Author Award 10 times from the Graduate School and Auburn University Libraries.
Tao’s research has been supported by funding from National Institutes of Health, the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, the Alabama Agriculture Experiment Station Foundation and other competitive programs, as well as private industry.
His commitment to advancing science is matched by his dedication to student mentorship — he has trained more than 70 students and served on committees for more than 25 graduate students. His efforts to advance instruction have earned him the 2021 Professor of the Year award from Auburn's Honors College and the 2011 and 2024 Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award from the College of Veterinary Medicine. He has been very devoted to helping Honors students gain acceptance into medical, pharmacy and veterinary schools.
Beyond research and teaching, Tao has contributed to university service through participation on 17 university-level committees, 12 college-level committees and eight departmental committees. His achievements have been recognized with numerous honors, including the Zoetis Award for Veterinary Research Excellence in 2016. In 2023, he was elected to Sigma Xi, the scientific research honor society, and in 2024, he was elected as an honorary member of the National Academy of Medicine of Mexico.
