Jim Noles
Auburn University faculty member Jim Noles has been recognized for his support to the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University with the conferral of the 2025 Friend of Cumberland Award.
As part of the law school’s Distinguished Alumni Awards, the Friend of Cumberland Award is “given to a friend, although not a graduate, who has contributed time and resources to enhance the quality of the law school and the educational experience of the students.” Noles was nominated and awarded this honor in fall 2025.
Previously a private law practitioner of more than 25 years, today Noles provides his expertise to Auburn students from both law and non-law backgrounds as a professor of practice in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment (CFWE). At the CFWE, he is pioneering the new undergraduate minor in environmental law and teaching courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
His relationship with the Cumberland School of Law dates to his arrival in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1997, where he worked with his firm’s recruiting programs and hiring committee which gave him ample opportunity to build connections with law students and, later, mentor their studies and career aspirations. He has also served on the Alabama State Bar’s Environmental Law Section’s executive committee, developing the section’s new scholarship program and advocating for young legal scholars to discover opportunities in environmental law careers.
“When I was considering law school, and when I was in law school, I was blessed to have a number of attorneys and older law students gift me with counsel and advice,” Noles said. “I’m just trying to pay it forward in whatever context I can.”
Noles is excited to add another component to the CFWE’s environmental law offerings. A new graduate certificate in environmental law will soon be available to students who have a passion for the laws and policies that protect many of the country’s natural resources.
“This well-deserved recognition demonstrates that Mr. Noles service has not gone unnoticed by his peers in legal academia,” said Janaki Alavalapati, the Emmett F. Thompson Dean of the CFWE. “We are proud that he will lend his legal expertise to provide the highest quality education for our students within the college’s new environmental law programs.”
To learn more about the CFWE’s undergraduate degrees and other educational offerings, visit the CFWE majors page on its website, www.cfwe.auburn.edu.
