With great sadness, the University of Mobile announces the passing of Audrey Eubanks, retired vice president for academic affairs. She died Feb. 26, 2023, after a brief illness.
Eubanks served at the university for 38 years, including 27 years in administration. In recognition of her dedicated and effective service, the UM board of trustees in 2016 named her vice president for academic affairs – emeritus.
UM President Lonnie Burnett said, “I do not have adequate words to describe what she meant to this university and to so many of us on a personal level. While our hearts are breaking over the loss of a colleague and dear friend, we can take comfort in the fact that her faith in Christ ensures that her pain is now a thing of the past and that death has not won a victory.”
Eubanks started at the university in 1982 as an assistant professor of education after teaching elementary education for 10 years in the George County (Mississippi) Public School system. She received tenure in 1988 and was named professor in 1991. Later, she served as dean of the School of Education, director of graduate programs, vice president for administration and, from 2002 to 2016, as vice president for academic affairs and chief academic officer. Prior to her retirement in 2020, she continued providing leadership in consulting roles, as accreditation liaison and professor of education.
Eubanks served in the administrations of five university presidents and guided the growth and development of the academic program, including moving the Baptist-affiliated institution from college status to university status in 1993. She served as the university’s first accreditation liaison for SACSCOC and continued overseeing successful accreditation reviews throughout her tenure, while also serving SACSCOC as a member and chair for numerous committees.
She oversaw the integration of technology throughout the university, including launching the university’s first online major. In 1989, she re-established the university’s Christmas tradition of The Remembrance Tree featuring ornaments donated by faculty and staff throughout the years.
Among her many honors were the university’s Megginson Service Award, Gayfer’s Outstanding Career Woman, Who’s Who in American Education, Outstanding Young Educator and Outstanding Young Woman.
Reflecting on her career prior to retirement, Eubanks said, “I have enjoyed my work at the University of Mobile and would not trade my experiences here for anywhere else. I am and will always be a member of the UM family. It has been a place for growth, for thriving, and for maturing into the person I am today. For this, I am grateful.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Molly Grace Watkins and originally published by the University of Mobile. Details about funeral arrangements can be found here.
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