Ferritor named University of Arkansas interim chancellor

University of Arkansas System President Don Bobbitt has named Dan Ferritor as interim chancellor to take over the flagship university’s top position when UA Chancellor G. David Gearhart retires on July 31.

Ferritor has spent the last two years as vice president of learning technologies for the UA System. He served as UA chancellor from 1986-97 and held various other positions during a 32-year career with the university.

“I feel very lucky to have had someone with Dr. Ferritor’s experience willing to come back and take on this challenge while we actively search for the campus’s next chancellor,” Bobbitt said.

Gearhart became the fifth chancellor of the University of Arkansas on July 1, 2008, following 10 years of service to the university as vice chancellor for University Advancement. He previously served at the university for three years as director of development in the early 1980s.

“I am excited and honored to have been asked to serve as interim chancellor to act as a bridge between a proven leader and our next chancellor,” Ferritor said. “With my former experience, I know how vital it is to have those tools in place to act as the glue that holds everything together. With this base, I am confident we will continue to do great things and, more importantly, convinced we will ultimately find a strong new chancellor.”

Ferritor first joined the UA faculty in 1967 as an assistant professor before leaving to complete his doctoral work at Washington University in St. Louis and to conduct early childhood research as part of a federal educational research laboratory. He returned to the UA in 1973 as associate professor of sociology and in 1980 became chairman of the sociology department. He was named provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at UA in 1985 and was selected as chancellor in 1986, where he led the university until he retired in 1997. He returned to the sociology department from 1998-2005 as university professor, where he held the Jones Chair in Community from 2002-05. 

In 2000, he received the Chancellor's Medal, and soon after UA officials dedicated the Daniel E. Ferritor Hall.

Ferritor became the UA System's vice president for academic affairs before taking on a part-time role as vice president of learning technologies, where he helped prep the launch of the UA System’s 100 percent-online eVersity project.