Arkansas Research Alliance Names Second Class of Fellows

Northwest Arkansas

by Talk Business & Politics ([email protected]) December 10, 2015 2:39 pm 146 views 

Researchers from five Arkansas research universities were recognized Thursday during a news conference at the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock.

The Arkansas Research Alliance expanded its ARA Fellows program with a second class of researchers who are working in Arkansas at one of the state’s five research universities: Arkansas State University, the University of Arkansas, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

ARA Fellows are nominated by his or her chancellor and receive a $75,000 grant paid over three years.

  1. “Arkansas Research Alliance continues to help fuel economic growth in our state,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a prepared statement. “By investing in distinguished researchers and nurturing innovation, they’re helping us more aggressively advance our economy and position us for the future.”   

The inaugural class was introduced in December 2014.

The second class of ARA Fellows includes:

  • Brandon Kemp, an associate professor in the college of engineering at ASU;
  • Michael Owens, a professor in the department of pharmacology and Toxicology at UAMS, and the director of the Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Studies;
  • Jessie J. Walker, the interim coordinator of computer science at UAPB;
  • Cang Ye, a professor in the department of systems engineering at UALR; and
  • Min Zou, a mechanical engineering professor at the UA.

Each of the 2015 Fellows has a Ph.D.

“We are proud to welcome these talented researchers to our Fellows program,” Jerry Adams, ARA president and CEO, said in a news release. “They represent the exemplary research talent at Arkansas universities and the powerful potential that exists to positively impact economic development, innovation and advancement in our state.”

The ARA Fellows program is a companion to the well-established ARA Scholars program, which recruits research talent to Arkansas. Adams noted that the ARA Scholars and ARA Fellows programs are steadily gaining traction with the number of researchers nearly doubling in the past year.

“One of the many things that attracted me to ARA is the organization’s intense focus on making our state stronger through job-creating research,” said Sonja Hubbard, chairman, ARA board of trustees and CEO of Texarkana-based E-Z Mart Stores Inc. “We are proud to put the support of ARA behind these nationally and internationally recognized researchers who will help us further stimulate commercial opportunities in Arkansas.”