Jones set to be next ATU president; Fiorello resigns as vice president and Cox named to ATU Board

The Arkansas Tech University Board of Trustees cast a unanimous vote on Tuesday (May 14) to enter contract negotiations with Dr. Russell Jones, ATU interim president, regarding the ATU presidency.

Trustees made the decision during a called meeting at Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center.

Jones became interim president at Arkansas Tech on Aug. 17, 2023. He joined ATU in July 2020 as dean of the College of Business, which has since been renamed the ATU College of Business and Economic Development. Jones’ faculty rank is professor of accounting.

A native of Marianna, Jones holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering technology and a master’s degree degree in information systems from Arkansas State University. He earned his doctorate from the University of Texas at Arlington with a dual major in accounting and information systems.

Jones came to ATU from Arkansas State, where he served as the Kathy White Endowed Professor of Management Information Systems (2006-2020). His previous roles at ASU included chair of accounting and information technology (2015-2018), Master of Business Administration director (2009-2012), associate professor of decision sciences (1995-2005) and assistant professor of computer information systems (1989-1995).

He also has served as a visiting professor at the University of Caen in France and the University of Otago in New Zealand.

Also, Cory Cox has been appointed to the Arkansas Tech University Board of Trustees, and Laury Fiorello is resigning as vice president for administration and finance, the Russellville-based university announced Tuesday.

Fiorello joined ATU as chief fiscal officer on its Ozark campus in 2016. She took office as ATU vice president for administration and finance June 1, 2021. Her retirement is effective June 3, 2024. Suzanne McCall, ATU controller, will serve as ATU interim vice president for administration and finance until a permanent replacement for Fiorello takes office.

“We are grateful to Laury for her service to Arkansas Tech University over the past eight years,” Dr. Russell Jones, ATU interim president, said in a statement. “We will begin a nationwide search for ATU’s next vice president for administration and finance in the weeks to come.”

Cox of Perryville was appointed to the ATU Board by Gov. Sarah Sanders. Pending a vote by the members of the ATU Board during their meeting on June 20, Cox will complete the term previously assigned to Michael Lamoureux. Lamoureux resigned from the board effective March 31, 2024. The term Cox has been appointed to will expire Jan. 14, 2027.

Cox graduated from Arkansas Tech with a bachelor’s degree in history and political science in 1996. After graduating from the William H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Cox was legal counsel in the Arkansas Office of the Governor during the administration of Mike Huckabee (2000-05), director of the Arkansas Insurance Department Criminal Investigation Division (2005-08) and a partner at Hiland, Thomas and Cox (2008-10).

Cox also has experience as government affairs liaison and legal counsel for the Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands (2010-14), deputy general counsel for the Arkansas Department of Human Services (2014), legislative director for the Arkansas Office of the Attorney General (2014-17) and chief of staff for the Arkansas Office of the Attorney General (2017-21).

Since 2021, Cox has been employed by health care insurance provider CareSource. He is the company’s state director of government relations.

Len Cotton of Dardanelle (chairman), Bill Clary of Conway (vice chairman), Stephanie Duffield of Russellville (secretary) and Jim Smith of Fayetteville are the current members of the ATU Board of Trustees.