ASU dean adding interim-job duties
An Arkansas State University dean will soon be pulling double duty. He has been named the interim leader of another college.
Brad Rawlins currently is the dean of the College of Media and Communication on the Jonesboro campus, and on July 1, he will also become interim dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Lauri Umansky, who was dean of the humanities college for three years, is moving to direct the Heritage Studies postdoctorate program, according to a news release.
“I am thrilled about this opportunity in what will be, undoubtedly, an exciting year,” Rawlins said in the news release. “What thrills me the most is the opportunity to work with talented, dedicated and resourceful faculty and staff to address the opportunities and challenges facing higher education and our disciplines. We live in interesting times, and it will require collaborative, creative and critical thinking to find answers to these questions.”
Rawlins is also the president-elect of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication, a national group for administrators in the field.
The appointment — from Lynita Cooksey, the university’s provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs — comes as the university begins restructuring its academic colleges. Cooksey said in the news release that university officials “will continue to fine-tune the details” with the restructuring in the months ahead.
Couple endowing UALR scholarship
A businessman and his wife have started an endowed scholarship for students at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s College of Business.
Mark Langston, USAble Life executive vice president and chief financial officer, and his wife, Ann, started the endowment with a $25,000 gift, according to a news release. The money raised from the endowment will go toward undergraduate and graduate students in the business college’s accounting department.
The couple said in the news release that they “benefited from scholarships” when they were students and that they wanted to pay it forward.
“We have been blessed and now have the opportunity to give back to the next generation of students that will become the future business leaders in Arkansas and beyond,” Mark Langston said in the release.