10/23/2008

APT Show Host to Deliver York Lecture in Auburn

AUBURN, Ala. — Doug Phillips, creator, producer and host of Alabama Public Television’s award-winning and Emmy-nominated Discovering Alabama, will speak in Auburn Wednesday, Oct. 29, as the fall 2008 E.T. York Distinguished Lecturer.

His presentation, “Native Wildlands of Alabama and the South: Past, Present and Future," is set for 7 p.m. in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences Building conference hall, Room 1101. The presentation is free and open to the public, as is a reception that precedes the lecture at 6 p.m. in the building’s foyer.

Discovering Alabama, an educational documentary series featuring the state’s natural history and natural wonders, developed out of Phillips’ lifelong passion for exploring Alabama backwoods. The program debuted on public television in 1985 and since has fascinated countless viewers and has enhanced classroom curricula in schools across the state.

Phillips’ lecture will come on the eve of AU’s second annual Outdoor U, set for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30. Cosponsored by the College of Agriculture and the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Outdoor U aims to promote the many career and recreational opportunities available for those who would rather be outside than in. Phillips will be on hand to visit with AU students, faculty and staff, as well as prospective students from area high schools, who attend Outdoor U. The free event will be on the greenspace between Jordan-Hare Stadium and the new Student Center.

The Auburn University College of Agriculture’s E.T. York Distinguished Lecturer Series was established at Auburn in 1981 with an endowment by E.T. York Jr. and his wife, Vam Cardwell York, both native Alabamians and AU graduates. York served as head of the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service from 1959 until 1962, leaving to head the Federal Extension Service in Washington, D.C. He later became provost and vice president for agriculture at the University of Florida. In 1975, York was named chancellor of the State University System of Florida, a post he held until his retirement in 1980.

For more information, contact Bill Hardy at hardywe@auburn.edu or Katie Jackson at smithcl@auburn.edu.

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Contact: Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu

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