Pat Arrington Receives Building Science Lifetime Achievement Award
When Pat Arrington ‘85 walked into the McWhorter School of Building Science (BSCI) awards banquet, in October, he thought he was there to support the Building Science program, as he had done for nearly two decades.
Instead, he found his family and longtime friends and colleagues quietly waiting in the room. Surprise turned to bewilderment as Arrington learned he had been selected to receive the Auburn Building Science Lifetime Achievement Award.
“I had no idea,” he said. “It was the best-kept secret. Everyone was in on it. And when I realized what was happening, I was very moved.”
Arrington, Vice President at JE Dunn Construction, has spent nearly 30 years with the company and almost 40 years in the construction industry. He is a 1985 Building Science graduate and a former Auburn football letterman who played under Coach Doug Barfield and Coach Pat Dye. Even in the earliest days of his college recruitment, Arrington said the BSCI academic program—not the athletic team—was the deciding factor that brought him to Auburn.
“The Building Science program is what got me to Auburn—not football,” he said. “I wanted to do both, and Auburn was where I could do that.”
Arrington’s collegiate years were marked by triumph and hardship. He was selected All-SEC, named an All-American and invited to play in the Japan Bowl. But after preparing for the NFL draft, medical evaluations revealed a broken neck, and everything changed.
“I had lived a wonderful career in sports,” he said. “And I walked away. I turned it all down and went back to get my degree. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.”
That return to the classroom became a turning point. Arrington credits three Auburn mentors for helping him persevere: Professors Paul Brandt , Mark Taylor and Steve Williams.
“They kept me going,” he said. “When school wasn’t going well, and football wasn’t going well, it would have been easy to quit. But Auburn taught me not to give up. It taught me to persevere.”
That lesson stayed with him throughout his career. He has long said that the Building Science program prepared him not just to construct buildings—but to solve problems, communicate with confidence and stay curious.
“When I graduated from Auburn, I felt confident. The program teaches you not to sit back—ask questions, push forward and keep learning,” he said.
Arrington joined JE Dunn Construction in 1997 and rose to lead the education program in the Atlanta office. He worked on complex multi-million-dollar education projects like the 350,000-sqft Emory University Health Sciences Research Building and campus upgrades to Westminster Schools. The company also worked on major athletic facilities like the Darlington School Athletic Complex in Rome, Georgia and the conversion of the former Atlanta Braves Turner Field ballpark into a football stadium for Georgia State.
Yet, the most meaningful part of his career has been developing people.
“I’ve built big projects, and that’s been fulfilling,” he said. “But the greatest accomplishment has been hiring individuals, training them and watching them grow. Many of them are now leaders in the company.”
Arrington has remained deeply connected to Auburn, serving on the BSCI Industry Executive Board for nearly 17 years, returning to lecture in classes and recruiting students into the field.
In recent years, his work has come full circle and brings him back to the Plains on a daily basis. JE Dunn is now serving as the construction management agent for Auburn’s new STEM + Agricultural Sciences Complex—the largest construction project in Auburn’s history—as well as the Barbara Drummond Thorne Academic and Research Facility that will replace the College of Human Sciences’ Spidle Hall.
“To graduate from Auburn and then come back decades later to help build the future of the campus—that has been incredibly fulfilling,” he said.
After 38 years of building a career with the support and partnership of his wife, Liz, Arrington is looking forward to time at his farm in Chickamauga, Georgia, where the pair have created a retirement utopia complete with a cow named Moose, donkeys Daphne and Fiona, four goats and two Boykin spaniels.
Receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, he said, affirmed something simple and meaningful.
“It made the statement that I’ve made a difference,” Arrington said. “I don’t always say the right thing, and I don’t always make the right decision, but I’ve always tried to be genuine and sincere in my attitude and approach.”
“I have a lot of respect for Building Science students, professors and for the industry,” he said. “I haven’t regretted one day of this career since 1985.”