How endowed leadership is shaping one college’s future

Dean Janaki Alavalapati, left, with former dean Emmett F. Thompson, whose leadership and service inspired Auburn’s first and only endowed deanship.

When Janaki Alavalapati was hired in 2015 to lead what was then Auburn’s School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, he quickly recognized the challenge ahead: ensuring the school would chart its own future rather than be absorbed into another college.

“I heard loud and clear from faculty members and stakeholders that maintaining our independent status was their top priority,” he said. “And that meant growing the program, both in size and in stature.”

Since then, Alavalapati has done that and more, and he credits the Emmett F. Thompson Endowed Deanship he holds, powered by the generosity of the Auburn Family, with helping drive growth and success in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment (CFWE).

Emmett Thompson was the first dean of the School of Forestry when it was established in 1984 and lead the program until his retirement in 1998. The endowed position honors his lasting contributions to the program.

“This deanship sends a clear message that the program should remain independent, and there’s really only one person whose name would ever belong on it: Emmett Thompson,” Alavalapati said. “He spent years helping to shape the program and maintain its autonomy.”

(written by Kelley Young)