Electrical engineering alumnus establishes scholarship in late wife’s ongoing honor

Julie Dunn Faurot left a lasting impact on those around her following her passing in 2021. A gardener and Auburn football fan, Julie also spent her time serving others through philanthropic organizations. 

“Julie just embodied the Auburn Spirit,” said her husband, Mark. “In the Auburn Creed, there’s a quote from Micah 6:8 about ‘doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with my God.’ That’s Julie to a T.

“She was involved with a lot of charitable organizations including iCan with Alabama Power to encourage women in engineering and The Family Place for people that had to travel to Birmingham for hospital visits,” he added.

Mark and Julie met in the mid 90s while studying electrical engineering at Auburn. Mark, who took extra time to complete a co-op with Alabama Power, noticed Julie excelling in many of their classes and asked for her help studying. Good idea... a few years later, they were married.

Upon graduation, Mark and Julie, both second-generation Auburn engineers, started jobs with Southern Company. Mark worked in instrumentation and control (I&C) on multiple environmental and retrofit projects and is currently a principal engineer in the Technical Services Organization. He is responsible for the development of I&C standards for the Southern Company fleet of fossil/hydro and renewables generating facilities. Julie began as a power delivery engineer and eventually served as the 44KV system planning team leader with Alabama Power.

While building their careers in Birmingham, they eventually had two sons – Justin, now a rising sophomore in electrical engineering at Auburn, and Dylan, a senior at Briarwood Christian School in Birmingham.

Following Julie’s passing, Mark made the decision to establish the Julie Dunn Faurot Memorial Endowed Scholarship in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering in her ongoing honor. His hope for future students who receive the scholarship is to be inspired by his wife’s story.

“I wanted to do something to try to carry her legacy on and encourage people to pursue engineering like she had always done,” he said. “I hope the scholarship recipient is encouraged by her example and her perseverance in the challenging engineering curriculum.”