Forty Under 40: Lindsey Steiger-Muck

Lindsey Steiger-Muck found a love for teaching after a former college professor suggested it.

The Fort Smith native started teaching after earning an MBA from the University of Arkansas in 2016. She earned the degree while working at Fort Smith-based transportation company ArcBest.

“I had always been somewhat community-driven, and when we relocated to Fayetteville, the university was where I wanted to be,” she said. “I went from teaching to a staff role.”

Steiger-Muck said she joined the UA because she wanted “to see the difference that I was making in people’s lives and help others on their journey.” In college, she remembers those who invested in her, and she wanted to do this for others.

In April 2019, she started as assistant MBA director at the UA’s Sam M. Walton College of Business. She worked as a student adviser and helped coordinate an internship program, which led her to work with employers. In October 2021, she was promoted to corporate outreach manager. She was named to her existing position in January 2023.

Steiger-Muck oversees the college’s programs and ensures they scale as student enrollment grows. She’s also responsible for employer relations and oversees the college’s director of employer relations. She oversees five employees.

This spring, she plans to enter a doctoral program in human resource and workforce development.

Before her higher education career, she’d worked at ArcBest for about 10 years. She was promoted multiple times and placed in the company’s leadership program. She started as a student worker in college and left the company as a payroll tax analyst.

“I enjoyed it,” she said. “It was a great company. It was a great culture. The people were wonderful.”