Connections: JBU leaders receive Rotary awards

John Brown University in Siloam Springs recently announced that President Chip Pollard and his wife, Carey Pollard, received the Mark Simmons Service Above Self Award.

Also, Joe Walenciak, distinguished professor of business at JBU, received the 2025 Rotary Impact Award. Siloam Springs Rotary Club presented the awards on Oct. 14.

The Pollards were presented with their award for decades of service to the Siloam Springs community. Pollard became JBU president in 2004 and has overseen more than 26 building projects and renovations, including the engineering, nursing and art departments. During his leadership, the university has received more than $385 million in gifts, and its endowment has more than quadrupled to over $200 million.

The award is named after Mark Simmons, board chairman and former CEO of Simmons Foods.

Walenciak was given the Rotary Impact Award for his years of work with the Guatemalans Can Lead program, which develops leadership skills among young people in Guatemala. He began working as a program adviser in 2005. Walenciak has been a professor at JBU’s Soderquist College of Business since 1982.

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