Joel Anderson, former chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, helped grow and advance the university and surrounding community so much during his 13 years at the helm that Fifty for the Future felt it appropriate to honor him with a civic achievement award.
Fifty for the Future is a civic organization made up of Pulaski County business leaders. Its membership recognized Anderson, 74, last week with the William F. Rector Memorial Award for Distinguished Civic Achievement.
The award has been given since 1976 in honor of Rector, a longtime Little Rock community leader. It came with a $2,500 award to a charity of Anderson's choosing. He sent the money to the UALR Alumni Association Scholarship Fund.
"Joel Anderson truly exemplifies civic leadership. His work in enhancing our community and region spans more than 45 years," Shep Russell, president of Fifty for the Future, said Friday. "His measured approach to solving tough issues is why he's distinguished himself, and we're pleased to present this award to him."
Anderson was chosen for the honor because of his decades of commitment to expanding and improving the university, as well as strengthening the school's relationship with the community.
Anderson retired as chancellor of UALR this summer. He joined the political science faculty there in 1971 and went on to serve as founding dean of the Graduate School, then provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs. He became chancellor in 2003.
Under Anderson's tenure, the university accomplished its first comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached $103 million. The campus expanded with new or upgraded facilities for student housing, student services, engineering, nanotechnology, athletics, energy conservation and the arts.
Also during that time, three entities under the university's umbrella were established: the Institute on Race and Ethnicity, the University District Development Corp. and the Donaghey Emerging Analytics Center.
Anderson also was an early supporter of the Little Rock Technology Park and helped campaign for the passage of a new sales tax in 2011 that benefited the startup incubator.
"In 2010, UALR gained the Carnegie Foundation's elective Community Engagement classification based on the university's extensive and close relationship with the greater metropolitan community," a Fifty for the Future news release said.
When he was UALR's provost, Anderson led a study that resulted in the merger of the Little Rock and North Little Rock water utilities, now collectively operating as Central Arkansas Water. He won a regional leadership award for that work.
He said Friday that it was "certainly a big honor" to receive the Rector Award.
"If you look back at the list of city leaders who have received it throughout the years, it's hard not to look at all those names and say, 'Oh my goodness, how did I make this list?'" Anderson said. "It was an honor to be recognized for some of my activities, as well as the activities of the university to help support and advance the economic development of the city and of the region."
The Rector Award was given for commitment to the community -- something Anderson has talked about since taking over as chancellor on Jan. 1, 2003.
At a reception for him in March of that year, he listed his three goals for the university as educating students, contributing to the "elevation of the cultural life of our community," and being a key player in the economic strategy of the region and state.
"We're going to build for you and the people of Arkansas a powerhouse university," he said.
During a retirement event for Anderson this summer, many touted the creation of UALR's Institute on Race and Ethnicity as his most proud accomplishment. The center does an annual survey of racial attitudes in Pulaski County and releases a report.
Anderson got hooked on the issue as a sophomore at what was then a segregated Harding College in Searcy.
"But the occasional private comments by a few faculty members that racial segregation was wrong -- morally wrong, wrong from a Christian point of view -- really caught my attention and bothered me," he has said. "They cracked open the door to reconsideration of my perspective on race. I proceeded to push it wide open during my first two years as a college student."
Decades later, Anderson said there's still a long way to go, calling racial tension the "No. 1 problem in Arkansas."
"It is intertwined with every other major problem of the state, whether it's education, health, crime, law enforcement," he said.
Anderson granted in-state tuition for illegal aliens who attend UALR.
David Pryor, a former Arkansas governor and U.S. senator, said about Anderson at his retirement ceremony: "No one has been stronger. No one has been more willing to not only talk about that issue, but to take that issue on and to address it head on. I admire him so much for that."
Information for this article was contributed by Aziza Musa of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 12/24/2016