Dr. Bailey held a 50-year continuous faculty appointment at Auburn University after receiving his veterinary degree in 1942, serving in positions ranging from instructor to university president.

“He retired from the College of Veterinary Medicine in 1992, but he had remained a daily fixture here at the college, where he had an office for his veterinary work and philanthropy efforts,” said Dean Timothy Boosinger. “He was a fine man and will be greatly missed.”

In 1983-1984, the Auburn University Board of Trustees named Dr. Bailey as interim president while a committee conducted a search for a new president. During this time period, an act by the Alabama Legislature officially named him the school’s 13th president, recognizing his outstanding service. In March 1984, he was designated President Emeritus and was appointed as the first University Professor. He was also awarded the honorary degree, Doctor of Humanities, that year.

Assistant Dean Gary Beard, one of Dr. Bailey’s students in the 1950s, said, “He was truly a man for all seasons, and his dedication to excellence transcended his professional and private lives. We are so fortunate to have had this giant of a professional in our midst. His influence has greatly affected those who knew him for decades and will for years to come.”

Following graduation from high school in Hartselle, Alabama, in 1938, Dr. Bailey moved with his family to Auburn where he enrolled as a freshman. In an interview with the Opelika-Auburn News last year, he said "I grew up in poverty in Morgan County after my father died when I was 10 years old. Chopping cotton for a dollar a day as a teenager, I watched cars going up and down U.S. Highway 31 between Birmingham and Nashville, hoping some day to get to see those cities and never expecting to get to go to college."

His mother ran a boarding house in Auburn to give him that opportunity, and, at one time, she was the only telephone operator for Alabama Polytechnic Institute.

Dr. Bailey received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1942 and was appointed instructor in the Department of Pathology and Parasitology, where he earned his master’s degree in 1946. While on a two-year professional improvement leave, he continued his graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University, earning the Doctor of Science degree in 1950.

He returned to the AU veterinary school to become head of the Department of Pathology and Parasitology. In 1962, he became associate dean of the Graduate School and coordinator of Research, also serving for a period as acting director of the Water Resources Institute.

In 1966, he was named vice president for Academic and Administrative Affairs, and after serving in that capacity for six years, he took another two-year leave to serve as chief of the Parasitology and Medical Entomology Branch of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland.

He returned to his professorship at Auburn in the Department Pathology and Parasitology until his appointment as associate dean for Research and Graduate Studies in veterinary medicine. While serving in that position, he was appointed adjunct professor in the Department of Comparative Medicine at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

Dr. Bailey was named director of the Regional Parasite Research Laboratory of the United States Department of Agriculture in Auburn in 1980, remaining until 1982 when he returned to Auburn University as the coordinator of special projects for the Office of Vice President for Research.

He was a member of many professional organizations, and was past president of both the American Society of Parasitologists and the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. He was also the first secretary of the World Association of Veterinary Parasitologists.

He contributed more than 50 papers to national and international journals based on his research in parasitology which resulted in travel throughout the world for study and participation in national meetings. Included in his overseas travels to more than 45 countries was one research project for the United Nations in the Philippines, where he worked on three occasions. He also reviewed medical research in Poland, tropical medicine research in China, and research on parasites in cattle, sheep and goats in Egypt. He served two residences at the Rockefeller Foundation International Study and Conference Center in Bellagio, Italy.

His many awards included 1983-1984 Administrator of the Year for Alabama Higher Education; 1984 Auburn Rotary Club Community Service Award; 1986 Distinguished Alumnus Award, AU College of Veterinary Medicine; 1986 Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, Auburn University; and the 1992 Arthritis Foundation Humanitarian of the Year Award.

In 1999, he was named International Man of the Millennium for his contributions to biological sciences and college sports. The honor was bestowed by the International Biographic Center in Cambridge, England.

Dr. Bailey was very active in the administration of intercollegiate athletics, not only for Auburn University but regionally and nationally. At Auburn, he served as chair of the Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics, 1976-1986. He also served as secretary for the Southeastern Conference; SEC representative on the NCAA Council in 1983-1984; secretary and treasurer of the NCAA; and president of the NCAA in 1987-1988. From 1988 to 1995, he served on the NCAA Presidents Commission.

In 1988, he received the College President’s Award from the All-American Football Foundation. In 1995, he was honored with the Distinguished Alabama Sportsman Award by the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

He served on the board of trustees of International Christian University in Vienna, Austria, from 1990 to 1995. He had also served as president of the East Alabama Medical Center Foundation Board of Directors and as treasurer of the Alabama Poverty Project.