AUBURN, Ala.—Prior to Saturday’s Auburn football game against LSU, a flyover following the national anthem, will honor the memory of U.S. Air Force Maj. John “Alex” Klinner, a 2016 mechanical engineering graduate, who tragically lost his life while serving his country in March 2026. Four F-35 Lightning II fighter jets from the 187th Fighter Wing Alabama Air National Guard will be flown by Auburn graduates.
A native of Auburn and a third-generation Auburn University alumnus, Klinner graduated in 2016 with a degree in mechanical engineering and commissioned into the Air Force in 2017 through Auburn’s Reserve Officer Training Corps. He served as an evaluator pilot and chief of squadron standardizations and evaluations with the 99th Air Refueling Squadron, logging hundreds of combat and combat-support hours across multiple deployments. He is survived by his wife, Libby, and their three young children.
On Saturday, members of the Klinner family will join Auburn Athletics and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering for a special presentation, as the Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board (MEAB) has established a scholarship in honor of Maj. Klinner. The scholarship will support future Auburn mechanical engineering students in Air Force ROTC who embody the excellence, leadership and commitment to service that defined Maj. Klinner.
“He worked hard to become an Auburn mechanical engineer, followed his dreams of being a U.S. Air Force pilot and was a third-generation Auburn graduate we can all be proud of and should never forget,” said John Prunkl, ’90 mechanical engineering and MEAB member.
The Auburn Family is invited to support the Major Alex Klinner Memorial Endowed Scholarship in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering so that we can best honor Major Klinner’s sacrifice and legacy. More information on the endowed scholarship can be found here: aub.ie/A8WDVy.