Distinguished Awards Dinner to Honor LaRussa, Jacobs and Anderson on Oct. 7
The Greater Birmingham Auburn Club will bring the Auburn Family together this fall for one of its signature annual events, celebrating three individuals whose leadership, service and commitment have made a lasting impact on Auburn University and beyond.
The 13th Annual Greater Birmingham Auburn Club Distinguished Awards Dinner will be held Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, at The Club in Birmingham. This year’s honorees are Benny M. LaRussa, Jr., Jay Jacobs and Barbara “Babs” Thorne Anderson.
Auburn University President Christopher B. Roberts and Auburn Athletics Director John Cohen are among the confirmed guests for the evening, with both scheduled to deliver remarks during the program. Kurt Sasser, Chief Engagement Officer for Advancement and Director of the Auburn Alumni Association, is also scheduled to participate.
While the evening recognizes outstanding members of the Auburn Family, it also supports the next generation of Auburn students. Proceeds from the Distinguished Awards Dinner benefit scholarships for students from the Greater Birmingham area through the club’s SOAR Fund.
Honoring three members of the Auburn Family
Benny M. LaRussa, Jr. will be recognized as the 2026 GBAC Distinguished Alumnus.
A 1982 Auburn graduate with a bachelor’s degree in finance, LaRussa is the founder and CEO of Birmingham-based Sterling Capital Management, a multi-asset holding company with interests in food, distribution and real estate.
His career has been accompanied by extensive civic and philanthropic service. LaRussa has served organizations throughout the Birmingham community as well as Auburn University, including service on the Auburn University Foundation Board, which he chaired from 2019 to 2020. In 2025, he was inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame in recognition of his business leadership, civic service and community impact.
Jay Jacobs will receive the 2026 GBAC Distinguished Athlete Award.
Jacobs’ Auburn story began as a walk-on student-athlete. He earned letters as an offensive tackle in 1982 and 1983 and was a starter on Auburn’s 1983 SEC Championship football team.
After graduating from Auburn in 1985, Jacobs built a career in collegiate athletics that eventually brought him back to his alma mater. He became Auburn’s 14th Director of Athletics in 2005. During his 13-year tenure, Auburn teams won 25 SEC championships and 12 national championships, including the 2010 football national championship.
Jacobs later served as executive associate athletics director for external affairs at the University of Florida before retiring from collegiate athletics in 2023.
Barbara “Babs” Thorne Anderson will receive the 2026 Elmer B. Harris Distinguished Service Award.
Anderson graduated from Auburn in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in speech communication and later earned a master’s degree in journalism. Her decades of service to Auburn include leadership roles with the Auburn University Tigers Unlimited Foundation Board and Auburn’s Women’s Philanthropy Board.
She and her family have also made significant philanthropic investments in Auburn. Anderson and her sisters made a lead gift to Auburn’s College of Human Sciences in honor of their late mother, Barbara Drummond Thorne, helping make possible the future Barbara Drummond Thorne Academic and Research Facility. Anderson and her husband, Michael, also supported Auburn Athletics through the Babs and Michael Anderson Tigers Den at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Celebrating Auburn while investing in students
The Distinguished Awards Dinner is more than an opportunity to recognize Auburn achievement. It is part of the Greater Birmingham Auburn Club’s long-standing commitment to helping students from the Birmingham area attend Auburn.
“This dinner has always been about more than presenting awards. It’s about celebrating people who represent the very best of Auburn and who live out the Auburn Creed, while helping make the Auburn experience possible for students right here in Jefferson and Shelby counties.”
Elon W. Maddox, Jr., Co-Chair, 2026 GBAC Distinguished Awards Dinner
The club’s scholarship endowments are currently supporting students from communities across Greater Birmingham, including Birmingham, Hoover, Vestavia Hills, Mountain Brook, Pelham, Leeds, Calera, Chelsea, Warrior and Wilsonville. Recipients include Auburn students at every stage of their college experience, from incoming freshmen to seniors.
The 2026-27 program also marks another step forward in that effort with the Birmingham War Eagle Club Kenneth and Alice Laurendine Endowed Scholarship, newly endowed in 2026.
That connection between Auburn’s past, present and future is at the heart of the Distinguished Awards Dinner: honoring those who have helped strengthen Auburn while creating opportunities for the students who will carry that legacy forward.
Join the Auburn Family on Oct. 7
The evening will begin with a social hour from 6 to 7 p.m., followed by dinner and the awards program at 7 p.m. at The Club in Birmingham.
In addition to the three honorees, the evening will feature Auburn leaders from across the university, including President Chris Roberts, Athletics Director John Cohen and Auburn Alumni Association Director Kurt Sasser.
Reserved seating and sponsorship opportunities are available, with proceeds benefiting SOAR scholarships for Greater Birmingham students attending Auburn University.
Tickets are available now.