5/18/2011

Rodning Nomination Puts Auburn in Running for Freedom Award

AUBURN, Ala.—The U.S. Department of Defense has named Auburn University one of 30 finalists for the 2011 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award, the highest recognition the defense department gives to employers for exceptional support of their employees who serve in the U.S. Army National Guard and Reserve. The award is given by the defense department’s Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve agency.

Soren Rodning, an assistant professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at Auburn and a U.S. Army reservist who was deployed to Afghanistan from August 2010 through mid-March with the veterinary service unit of the 358th Medical Detachment, nominated the university for the honor. In addition, as a result of a second nomination Rodning submitted, the agency has named Auburn animal sciences department head Wayne Greene a 2011 winner of its Patriot Award.

Auburn and the 29 other Freedom Award finalists—including such employers as Ford Motor Company, CSX Transportation, Wells Fargo and 3M—were selected from a pool of 4,049 employers nationwide who were nominated for the award by Guard and Reserve service members or their families for creating an outstanding supportive culture within their workplaces in support of employee soldiers. Supportive measures include making up the difference in military and civilian pay during deployments, continuation of benefits, sending care packages and providing personal support to the families of employees called away from home.

Beth Sherman, spokeswoman for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Reserve Affairs, said Auburn is the only university among the 30 finalists, as had been the case on the list of semifinalists announced in April. Auburn is also the only Alabama employer that made the finalist list.

From the 30 finalists, a national selection board comprised of senior defense department officials, business leaders and prior awardees will select 15 employers nationwide as recipients of the 2011 Freedom Award.

The 2011 recipients will be honored in Washington, D.C., at the 16th annual Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award Ceremony in September. Only 145 employers in the U.S. have been presented with the Freedom Award since its inception in 1996.

The official defense department news release on the finalists can be found at http://www.freedomaward.mil/TemplateDetailsView.aspx?TemplateID=622.

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OFFICE OF AG COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING
Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 COMER HALL, AUBURN UNIVERSITY
AUBURN, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)
AgComm@auburn.edu