CONWAY -- The University of Central Arkansas' board of trustees voted Friday to rename a building in honor of the late Jerald "Jerry" M. Manion, the school's longest-serving professor.
Laney Hall will now become Laney-Manion Hall in honor of Manion, who worked 49 years in the department of chemistry "as a professor, chairman, mentor, friend, and ambassador for the department," UCA said in a news release.
The building, already named after the late Gov. Benjamin T. Laney, houses that department.
Manion died July 18.
"He had a great life. He loved what he did. He loved this university. He loved the students, and we couldn't go anywhere in 48 states and not run into one of his students," his wife, Patsy Manion, said. "He was signed up to teach this fall. They had him on the schedule. He was going to get in his 50 years."
State Desk on 12/13/2014