Kevin M. Fitzpatrick Appointed Jones Chair in Community

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Dean Donald Bobbitt of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences has appointed Kevin Fitzpatrick to the Bernice Jones Chair in Community.

Fitzpatrick will oversee initiatives in teaching, research, and community outreach to assist local and regional governments, businesses, and nonprofit groups in developing strategic plans for growth and development in Northwest Arkansas. He will work with these groups to address the needs of growing ethnic minority communities in the state as well.

His areas of research expertise include the mental health of special populations, risk-taking behaviors among youth, violence and urban sociology. In 2001, Fitzpatrick received a Fulbright Research Scholar Award to conduct research at the University of Szeged in Hungary. Since 2001, he has served as the director of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Along with his colleagues, he has received numerous major grants, including $732,399 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to fund a Community Outreach Partnership Centers Program and a grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to establish a comprehensive Youth Violence Research Center. 

Fitzpatrick, a consultant to the Bessemer City school system in Birmingham, has been called as an expert witness by the Legal Aid Society in New York City and the public defender’s office in San Diego, Calif.  For the past 15 years, he has been a consultant for media around the world, including ABC News, Fox News, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the BBC, and Canadian Broadcasting, on issues of school safety and violence, children’s exposure to violence, and violent urban environments.

He is the co-author of the book “Unhealthy Places: The Ecology of Risk in the Urban Landscape” as well as 35 articles in major sociology publications such as Social Forces, American Sociological Review, City and Community, and the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. He regularly presents his findings at national conferences of the American Sociological Association and serves as a grant reviewer for the National Science Foundation’s Sociology Program.

 “Engagement and connectedness across social, economic and political boundaries are essential in order to grow and prosper in the 21st century,” Fitzpatrick said. “Perhaps the most important lesson that I’ve learned is not to assume that everyone shares your vision without you first taking the time to understand theirs and articulate yours. Whether the central concern is population growth, transportation, or low-income health care, two or 20 heads are better than one. The real challenge, of course, is getting everyone at the same table to develop a shared vision and a desire to work toward similar outcomes.”

The Jones Charitable Trust established the chair in May 2004 to honor Bernice Jones, the 97-year-old philanthropist and widow to the late Jones Truck Lines founder Harvey Jones. Before she died in 2003, Jones was in charge of the Jones Family Trusts, which gave millions of dollars to colleges, hospitals, religious organizations and other socially minded causes in Arkansas. She was honored many times for her philanthropy, receiving the Presidential Citizen Medal from President Clinton in 1996.

“Bernice Jones had a vision for community. She has left behind a wonderful legacy, and it is in part her spirit of community that drew me to the University of Arkansas. Accepting the Jones Chair represents a significant decision for me personally, one that uprooted me from Birmingham after 20 years. I am excited about accepting this opportunity,” said Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick, who will be a tenured professor in the department of sociology, will receive a nine-month salary of $122,500, with additional funding to support research and outreach programs.

“Mrs. Jones, the Jones Center for Families, and Fulbright College’s Family and Community Institute all wanted to develop programs that would combine our resources to enrich our communities,” said Dean Bobbitt. “Dr. Fitzpatrick is the kind of leader who will bring diverse groups of people together, to find creative solutions for some of the challenges our neighbors and our communities face every day.”