Along with an eight-time winning mascot of the Universal Cheerleaders Association mascot national championship, Auburn University has a repertoire of successful graduates.
Auburn University has produced some prestigious graduates in a variety of areas. Here are just a few:
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc., once wandered the halls of the Haley Center as an Auburn student. He was born in Mobile, Alabama and attended nearby Robertsdale High School. In 1982, he graduated from Auburn with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, and immediately began working for IBM’s personal computer business. It was Steve Jobs who convinced Cook to join Apple in 1998, later becoming his successor when Jobs died.
Octavia Spencer, 2011 Oscar winning actress and 1994 Auburn University graduate with a degree in english and theater arts, never thought she’d succeed as an actress. At 19 she landed a role in “A Time to Kill,” acting alongside Sandra Bullock. Spencer moved to Los Angeles and continued to be cast in small roles in movies and television. It wasn’t until 2011 that her portrayal of “Minnie Jackson” in “The Help” gave her a household name and an Oscar.
Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder, enrolled at Auburn University at an age when most teenagers worry about their driver’s test. At 16, Wales attended Auburn University and graduated with a degree in finance in 1986. In 2001, Wales launched his first online encyclopedia, “Nupedia.” He later changed the model from scholarly content to content from any user, and called it “Wikipedia.”
Michael O'Neill, actor and 1974 Auburn graduate, has appeared in some blockbuster hits. Born and raised in Montgomery, O'Neill earned his degree from Auburn and then pursued a career in acting. He is noted for frequently playing a military or law enforcement officer, or the deranged man that holds a hospital at gun point in the season 8 finale of "Grey's Anatomy."
Anne Rivers Siddons, an award winning journalist, author and 1958 Auburn graduate with a degree in illustration and english, discovered the power of writing while working for The Plainsman. Siddons was fired from The Plainsman after her column on integration displeased administration. Her first novel, "Heartbreak Hotel" chronicles the event. After graduation, she went on to write numerous best-selling novels and a few works of non-fiction.
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