Three University of Arkansas staff members have been named to the Leadership Arkansas Class X, the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce Foundation announced.

John Erck, senior director of development and external relations for the Sam M. Walton College of Business; Cynthia Sides, founding director of the IGNITE program and the associate director for the Office of Entrepreneurship, and Toni Bahn, director of special events for Razorback Athletics, are among the 57 members of Leadership Arkansas Class X.

Leadership Arkansas is an annual program of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce Foundation that is designed to take a comprehensive view of the economic and political challenges that face the state. Leadership Arkansas gives its members first-hand experience of the interactions between cities, industries, governmental units and the people they serve. 

John Erck

Erck oversees development, communications, stewardship and special events for the Walton College. He joined Walton from the university's Department of Intercollegiate Athletics where, as development director, he was in charge of securing private gift support for 19 sports programs and more than 460 Arkansas Razorback student-athletes. He joined the athletics department in January 2010 and helped develop funding for the state-of-the art, $40 million Fred W. Smith Football Center.

Cynthia Sides

Sides is the founding director of IGNITE — Industry Generating New Ideas and Technology through Education — a program that connects Arkansas industry with university researchers. In addition to mentoring technology-based student business plan teams in the entrepreneurship program, Sides teaches the Emerging Technologies in Industry class, which is an interdisciplinary course that serves as a pipeline for science and engineering graduate students to enter the entrepreneurship program and encourages STEM students to consider the commercialization of their research and ideas.

Kristina Thomas Photography Toni Bahn

Bahn is a 2000 graduate of the University of Arkansas with degrees in political science and communication. As director of special events, she takes the lead on events ranging from intimate lunches to 1,000-plus person dinners to multi-day reunions and building dedications. Bahn planned and managed more than 60 events during the 2014-15 fiscal year, including the 50th anniversary of the 1964 National Championship Razorback football team. She coordinated post-season hospitality for the 2015 NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships and also is the director of the Guest Service Centers at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Previous roles within the athletic department include liaison for the Tusk Mascot Program and coordinator for the head coaches television shows.

At over 400 strong, Leadership Arkansas alumni have gone on to accept a variety of roles in the private and public sectors in Arkansas.