Campus Talk: UALR Names New Dean Of Engineering

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UALR NAMES NEW DEAN OF ENGINEERING
Lawrence E. Whitman has been named the new dean of UALR’s Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology (EIT). Whitman comes from Wichita State University, where he held the post of associate dean of the College of Engineering. Whitman, who will join UALR on July 1, will be the third dean of the college since its founding in 1999.

During Whitman’s tenure as both engineering associate dean and director of engineering education, he helped increase undergraduate student enrollment by more than 36% and undergraduate graduation rates by 20%, UALR said.

Whitman received a Ph.D. in industrial engineering from The University of Texas at Arlington and received both his M.S. and B.S. degrees from Oklahoma State University. Before his tenure at Wichita State University, he was a researcher at the Automation and Robotics Research Institute and was an engineer at Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics.

ARKANSAS NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL HELPING COLLEGE HALLS
Two Arkansas schools have received a combined $1.4 million for renovations to historic buildings on campus thanks to the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council.

The ANCRC has provided Arkansas Tech University in Russellville a $1 million grant to refurbish Wilson Residence Hall. A colonial revival structure built from 1910-13, Wilson Hall was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. The renovations will include replacement of the heating and cooling systems and the installation of a sprinkler system. Wireless Internet access will also be installed during the renovation.

The University of Central Arkansas in Conway will receive $400,000 in funding from ANCRC for phase two of the renovation and restoration of McCastlain Hall on the campus. This new grant will be used to create a new, more accessible, grand hallway between McCastlain’s East Commons and the Baum Gallery.

Built in 1939 as the first stand-alone cafeteria on campus, McCastlain Hall is now one of eight buildings comprising UCA’s Historic District and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

OBU PRESIDENT REX HORNE TO REPLACE REX NELSON AT INDEPENDENT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES POST
They’re trading one Rex for another. Dr. Rex Horne, the 15th president of Ouachita Baptist University since 2006, is resigning his position effective this summer to become president of Arkansas’ Independent Colleges & Universities.

Horne, a Camden native, will replace Rex Nelson, who has been named director of corporate communications for Pine Bluff-based Simmons First National Corp., a financial holding company. Read more here.

COMMON CORE TOUR CONTINUES IN JONESBORO
Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin’s Common Core Review Listening Tour Session lands in Jonesboro on Tuesday. The event will be held this evening at 5 p.m. at Arkansas State University’s
Cooper Alumni Center.