College of Engineering / Auburn Engineering Valentines / Carol and Gary Godfrey


Carol and Gary Godfrey

Carol and Gary Godfrey

Why Auburn Engineering?  

Both Gary and I are “out-of-staters” who were interested in engineering, and Auburn had so many different disciplines in engineering. The campus visit sealed it for both of us.  In the early 1980’s Auburn was blessed with the most incredible high school recruiters, like Bob Strong. He made sure that from the moment you stepped on campus, you felt like you were the most important high school student, like you could succeed in engineering and that Auburn wanted you to be part of the Auburn experience.  Bob arranged for me to meet with Interim Dean Chester Carroll and Gary was sent over to meet basketball coach Sonny Smith. Gary would go on to walk-on to the basketball team.  Many Best Days were ahead. 

How did you meet? If you met on campus, could you tell us your Auburn story?

We met on the very first day of our freshman year, in the fall of 1981, in between Bullard and Magnolia Halls, dorms that have long-since been torn down to make way for the Shelby Center.  That was the beginning of many Best Days.  Gary and some guys from the dorm were out throwing the football so I and another girl joined in, starting a friendship that would last for years.  In fact we both ended up majoring in Industrial Engineering.  Gary likes to joke that I cheated off of his old tests, that I stole his co-op job, and that I wrecked his car.  The truth is that our Auburn journey was one of friendship and shared loves of sports, science, statistics with Dr. Maghsoodloo — well, maybe not love, but perseverance — and a pizza bought with our Chef’s Club Card, the pre-cursor to the Tiger Card.  Honestly, we were just friends for almost a decade.

Where are you now? Tell us about your engineering journey after graduation!

Our Auburn Engineering degrees launched both of us forward in ways that neither of us could ever have imagined. Gary headed to Dallas, Texas after graduation, helping Frito-Lay master the logistics and distribution of chips, crackers, peanuts, etc. in the late 1980’s, tackling new ideas like point-of-purchase displays — think of that Super Bowl display at the grocery store — and new channels to market like Sam’s Club and COSTCO.  I headed to Atlanta to work for Ralston Purina.  And while Dog Chow doesn’t seem glamorous, the opportunities to rally teams of people around a common desire to change things for the better started early.  A chance phone call, a transfer for Gary to Atlanta and the first Iron Bowl ever held in Auburn changed the relationship from friendship to a Valentine's story.  Our Auburn Engineering education, coupled with our natural curiosity and drive helped both of us to lead large projects, Gary with Accenture and EY and I with Hubbell, Alcan and Southwire.  Traveling for work and pleasure has been part of the journey, with Gary’s traveling to every continent with the exception of Antartica.  And we’ve also used our engineering degrees to problem solve a breakdown on the houseboat or how to efficiently host friends and family at the lake; Best Days for sure.  Even recently, as we have learned to live life in new ways — Gary was Diagnosed with ALS in early 2019 — we have found the journey to be filled with family and friends, many of whom share our love of the loveliest Village on The Plains.  #MakeTodayYourBestDay