FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas will honor three of its alumni at commencement exercises May 14 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

Award recipients Emily Bertrand, Warren Rosenaur and Donald Simpson will also be recognized at a reception on campus May 13.

The awards honor alumni of the college for exceptional professional and personal achievements and extraordinary distinction in their fields.

Tom Smith, dean of the College of Education and Health Professions, and the Alumni Awards Committee of the Dean’s Advisory Council made the selections. 

“It is our pleasure to have the opportunity to honor three such distinguished alumni as these,” Smith said. “Each is making a significant impact in his and her chosen fields. They exemplify the service for which our college is known. In each case, these alumni are working to make life better for others.”

OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD

Emily Bertrand

Emily Bertrand earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2008 from the University of Arkansas. She has worked for the past seven years as a registered nurse in Northern Virginia, where she developed a prenatal education program for Arlington County free clinics with large immigrant populations.

Her initiative included crafting an innovative educational program for Spanish-speaking pregnant women, leading prenatal education seminars in Spanish, and providing community resources for the participants.

Bertrand is involved with the Virginia Hospital Center’s Medical Brigade, which provides direct patient care in 12 communities in central Honduras. Bertrand also assists with raising money for the project. She teaches undergraduate nursing courses at Marymount University and will complete her Master of Science in Nursing degree in the family nurse practitioner program at Marymount this spring. Learn more

OUTSTANDING ALUMNI AWARD IN EDUCATION

Warren Rosenaur

Warren Rosenaur serves as the director of theater at Fayetteville High School and is the managing director of the Performing Arts Center for the Fayetteville Public Schools. He earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1978.

Rosenaur earned a Master of Arts in communication in 1984 and has served in his current position for 30 years. He has received several awards, including a Summer Speech Fellowship at Northwestern University, the Fayetteville Public Schools Secondary Teacher of the Year, the Fayetteville High School Teacher of the Year and the Theatre Squared Innovator of the Year.

Rosenaur has numerous acting and directing credits and has adapted several children’s books for the stage. His film and television credits include Parker’s Anchor (2017 release), The Gordon Family Tree (2014), The Valley Inn (2014), Dupont Mississippi-F5 (2006), and Pearls of Wisdom (2006). Learn more

OUTSTANDING ALUMNI AWARD IN HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Donald Simpson

Donald Simpson, who earned a doctorate in health sciences from the U of A in 2006, is dean of the College of Health Professions and professor of clinical laboratory sciences at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University, where he also serves as director of the Institute for Environmental Health and Environmental Medicine. He was previously chair of the Department of Laboratory Sciences and director of the cytotechnology program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Health Professions.

Simpson served as a U.S. representative for cytopathology education to the Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Hubei Provincial People’s Government in Wuhan, China. He has led projects that established international partnerships and licensing of both medical laboratory sciences and radiologic imaging sciences curriculum at the King Saud bin Abdul-Aziz University for Health Sciences in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Learn more

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.