# Eugene Stanaland

Eugene Edward Stanaland (born August 30, 1934) is the current treasurer and director at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, a board member of Huntingdon College, former Auburn, Alabama city council president, former public speaker, and former head of economics at Auburn University.

## Early life and education

Stanaland graduated from Loretta High in 1952, and played on the football team. He graduated from Huntingdon College in 1960. He received his MBA and Ph.D from the University of Alabama, completing his dissertation, An economic analysis of the occupation license fee and property tax equalization as alternative sources of revenue for urban centers : a case study, in 1972.

## Career

Following high school, he enlisted in the Marine Corps, serving at Parris Island from 1953 to 1956. He rose to the rank of Marine Corps Sergeant, serving for three years during the Korean War.
He was president of the city council in Auburn after being elected in 1972. As a council president, he advocated for a 9-man city council and cooperation among officials. He ran again in 1976, running on examples of economic growth seen in the city throughout his 1972 term, including school funds increasing by 112 percent. He would end up losing his bid for re-election in 1976.
At the same time that he was president of the city council, he was also chair of the Auburn University Senate.
Huntingdon College honored Stanaland with its Alumni Loyalty Award in 2002. He has served on the Huntingdon College board of trustees from 1991 to 2019. In 2019, he was commemorated with the naming of the Phyllis and Eugene Stanaland Building, its name later shortened to the Phyllis and Gene Stanaland House.
In 2014 through at least 2018, he served on the advisory board for the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art.
Currently, he serves as board treasurer of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and is Senior Vice Commandant for Auburn's Billy Stelpflug Detachment of the Marine Corps League.

### Economics career

Stanaland served as a professor of economics at Auburn University for over 20 years from 1960 to 1981. He participated in research on topics such as economic cost-benefit planning and breaking the pattern of poverty inheritance. In 1977, he discussed the film, The Free State of Winston, a documentary about the Republic of Winston, alongside H. Brandt Ayers, James Dickey, Paul Hemphill, and Kenneth E. Boulding.
Stanaland was the head of the economics department from 1972 to 1980, and the head of the geography department. Before becoming a public speaker, he founded Gene Stanaland Enterprises, LLC, an economics and management consulting firm.
In public speaking, he was commonly known as the "Will Rogers of Economics" and included elements of humor when speaking. He spoke at the Auburn Rotary Club, Auburn University, Brooks International, the 2003 Radio Advertising Bureau’s Sales, Marketing & Leadership Conference, and Saginaw Valley State University among many other conferences and gatherings.
In 1990, he predicted the housing market to grow by 3.6 to 3.9 percent.

## Personal life

Stanaland was born in New York City, New York. His father was from Montgomery, Alabama, and his mother was from New York. His family moved to Detroit, then Baltimore, and finally settling down in Montgomery.
He is married to Phyllis Stanaland. He was honored with the City of Auburn's Distinguished Veteran Award on 27 May 2024. Following the presentation, a wreath-laying ceremony was held at the Auburn Veterans Memorial Monument.