Eugene Edward Stanaland

Eugene Edward Stanaland
Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps

Sergeant Eugene Edward Stanaland was born on August 30, 1934, in New York City. The son of a Montgomery man and a New York native, Stanaland’s family moved to Detroit then to Baltimore where his father built tankers during the second World War. They returned to Montgomery in the mid ‘40s, and Stanaland graduated from Loretta Academy, later known as Catholic High, in 1953.

Immediately following high school, Stanaland enlisted as a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps. He served at Parris Island from 1953 to 1956 where he processed and evaluated incoming recruits for Military Occupational Specialties assignments.

Stanaland left the service and returned to Montgomery to begin his pursuit of postsecondary education. He graduated from Huntingdon College in 1959 with a bachelor’s degree in business and obtained his MBA from the University of Alabama in 1972.

Stanaland first ventured to the Plains in 1960 and began his career as a professor in the Economics Department at Auburn University. He commuted from Montgomery for the first few years of his career until he and his mother made the move to Auburn in 1963.

He taught corporate finance and socioeconomics for 20 years, rising to head of the department in 1972. His pursuit of education continued during his teaching career, and he earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Alabama in 1972.

While he served as department head, Stanaland’s mother graciously hosted various social events and welcomed many out-of-town guests, becoming affectionately known as ”mom” to many who passed through their home.

Stanaland’s leadership shined during his time at Auburn University. He received the Outstanding Professor Award in 1967 and served as chairman of the General Faculty and president of the University Senate from 1973 to 1974. His impact stretched beyond school grounds. Stanaland served a term as the president of the Auburn City Council from 1972 to ’76, and he held various offices on the Auburn University Credit Union board from 1963 to 2020.

With an expansive knowledge of the world of economics and a love for sharing that knowledge, Stanaland left Auburn University in 1980 to begin his own venture, Gene Stanaland Enterprises, Inc. With clients such as IBM, General Electric, Georgia Pacific, Kraft, Dow Chemical, the Foreign Service Institute, the University of Dallas and Mercer University’s Executives Forum, Stanaland traveled across the world speaking to and training hundreds of leaders in the corporate and education spheres. He has been called the Will Rogers of economics because of his knack for making the dreary science both understandable and exciting.

All the while, with his home base in Auburn, Stanaland continued to invest in his communities, past and present. He served on the board of trustees for his alma matter, Huntingdon College, from 1991-2019. He was granted trustee emeritus status in 2019, and the building housing the college’s bookstore was named in honor of him that same year.

A supporter of the arts, Stanaland served on the board of the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art and has served as the treasurer and chair of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s Finance Committee since 1999. He served as commandant for the Billy Stelpflug Detachment #1064 Marine Corps League from 2002-2004 and from 2023 to the present.

Stanaland and his wife Phyllis currently reside in Auburn. Their son and daughter-in-law, Patrick and Susan McCurry, are also Auburn residents and have three sons, Charlie, Jamie and John.