A Dream Realized

In 2008, Phase I of the complex was completed and became the new home to the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering. The center also houses administrative offices, the Office of Student Services and the Alabama Power Academic Excellence Program, as well as a 150-seat auditorium and a number of computer classrooms, laboratories and student study galleries. 

The recently completed second phase includes Wiggins Mechanical Engineering Hall, home to the college’s largest academic unit. It provides a central location for administration and faculty offices, as well as laboratories, designated student study areas and much-needed space for student design projects and collegiate competition teams.

Phase II also includes the Advanced Engineering Research Laboratory designed to create space for both ongoing and emerging research, transforming the future of many of the college’s research efforts. It contains new clean rooms as well as specialty lab space. The laboratories within this new facility have been named, by resolution of the Auburn University Board of Trustees, as the Benefield Laboratories in recognition of Dean Larry Benefield’s leadership, bold vision and distinguished service to the College of Engineering. 

A Son’s Tribute

In a ceremony in April, the college dedicated the new Dwight L. Wiggins Mechanical Engineering Hall. The building was named through a generous contribution from Dwight L. Wiggins Jr., a 1962 and 1967 mechanical engineering graduate, in honor of his father Dwight L. Wiggins Sr.

“Dwight reminded me that he did his graduate research in the attic of Ross Hall because there was no other space available,” said Larry Benefield, dean of engineering. “With the dedication of Wiggins Hall, we now have state-of-the-art instructional and research facilities that Dwight never dreamed possible at Auburn. His generosity will provide future generations of mechanical engineering students the best facilities available.”

Wiggins’ gift represents not only a tribute to his father whose values, work ethic and initiative contributed to his own personal and professional success, but also his commitment to Auburn Engineering. “When Dean Benefield outlined his vision for new engineering facilities, I knew it was something that we needed to make happen,” said Wiggins. “I am honored to play a part in seeing this dream become a reality. These facilities are critical to making Auburn Engineering one of the top programs in the nation.”

A Family’s Legacy

Although Wiggins Hall is a new, modern facility, it will house a number of nostalgic reminders of the Department of Mechanical Engineering’s past. In particular, the historic grandfather clock that now resides in the administrative office.

For nearly 37 years, mechanical engineering professor John Curtis McKinnon kept the clock, which was responsible for ringing all of the bells on campus, accurate to within seconds. This was a feat that only he could accomplish due to the clock’s intricacy and temperamental nature. The clock was installed in Ramsay Hall in 1925 and professor McKinnon’s devotion and scrupulous attention to it received national recognition.

McKinnon graduated from Alabama Polytechnic Institute in 1923 and provided the College of Engineering with significant leadership and expertise from 1924 until his death in 1962. He was known as a devoted educator and admired for his mechanical ingenuity, teaching ability and broad range of scholarship that included history and languages. When McKinnon grew ill, the clock ran sporadically, and upon his death, it stopped altogether. It has served as a silent tribute to his dedicated service to the college.

The clock was recently refurbished through the diligent work of John Hendricks, a 1964 Auburn graduate and owner of Old Timers & Chimers Antique Clock Shop in Opelika, Ala. Hendricks oversaw the repairing of a number of parts, secured new ones including a pendulum, and refinished the clock’s surfaces, all the while appreciating its sensitive disposition.

The clock’s new life, and its continued maintenance, have been made possible through a generous contribution from McKinnon’s daughter Marjorie McKinnon Hale ’43, and grandchildren Anne Hale Craft ’70, Mary Curtis Hale Schroth ’75 and Ben Hale ’76, in honor of his devoted service to the College of Engineering. In recognition of their gift, a faculty office in Wiggins Hall has been named the John C. McKinnon Faculty Office.

What’s in a Name?

Additional spaces in Phase II of the Shelby Center will be recognized in dedication ceremonies in the coming months. Each of these areas has been named through generous contributions from alumni and friends — benefactors without whom this project would not have been accomplished. These areas include:

Wiggins Mechanical Engineering Hall

Bill and Martha Ward Student Gallery

William B. and Elizabeth Reed Conference Room

Charles M. and Rosemary S. Jager Library

Clarence H. Hornsby Jr. Mechanics of Materials Laboratory

Phillip and Margaret Forsythe Personal Computer Laboratory

Yndalecio A. Elizondo Faculty Office

Advanced Engineering Research Laboratory Building

American Tank & Vessel Gallery

Larry D. Benefield Laboratories

Carroll Commons