My Auburn: Four Decades on the Plains

About the Book

Born on a farm in Colorado during the Great Depression, Gerald Leischuck was determined to prepare himself for a career away from farming and caring for livestock. Encouraged by his parents to obtain an education that prepared himself for opportunities arising from a developing America, he studied to become a teacher and then was steered to graduate work, leading to the doctorate. Because of the Civil Rights Movement led by Freedom Riders in the early 1960s, he was drawn to the south, first to study at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, known as the “Loveliest Village on the Plains,” then offered an entry level position in the university’s central administration. The story details an increasingly responsible career on the teams of six consecutive Auburn University presidents during difficult as well as easier times, ending with retirement as executive assistant to the president and secretary to the board of trustees.

About the Author

Dr. Gerald Leischuck, a retired educator, enjoyed a career that spanned more than forty years, beginning as a mathematics teacher in rural eastern Colorado and ending after lengthy service in senior administrative positions at Auburn University. Striving to improve public education, his life is characterized by leadership roles in public schools as a principal, ten years as a member of the local board of education and as international president of a professional organization. In continuous support of teaching. Gerald and his wife Emily initiated programs to recognize and reward outstanding teachers. To commemorate Gerald’s lengthy service to Auburn University and to education in general in 2000 he was awarded the honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa.