FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas will honor three of its alumni – Robin Bowen, Anna Egalite and Yvonne Johnson – during commencement exercises May 13 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

Michael Miller, dean of the College of Education and Health Professions, and the college’s Alumni Awards Committee made the selections.

“These are truly outstanding individuals who are excelling in their professional fields,” Miller said. “From established leaders like Dr. Bowen and Dr. Johnson, to the outstanding and promising work of Dr. Egalite, everyone involved in the selection was incredibly impressed with their accomplishments.”

Former Dean Reed Greenwood will receive an Award for Distinguished Contribution during a reception on campus May 12. The three alumni will also be recognized during the reception.

“The Alumni Awards Committee wanted to make sure that we honored one of the most distinguished figures in the history of the college, former professor and dean, Reed Greenwood,” Miller continued. “Dean Greenwood built the foundation for the current structure of the college, and we all owe a great deal to his leadership.”

OUTSTANDING ALUMNI IN HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES AWARD

Robin Bowen became the 12th president of Arkansas Tech University in Russellville in 2014. She earned a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from the University of Arkansas. Bowen is the first female president of a public, four-year university in Arkansas.

She was selected as a 2016 recipient of the INSIGHT into Diversity Presidents and Chancellors Giving Back Award, the only national award that honors college presidents and chancellors for their commitment to diversity by giving back to their campus and community. In 2015, she was named one of AY Magazine’s Most Powerful Women. Bowen serves on the board of directors of the River Valley Shelter for Battered Women and Children, the Russellville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Arkansas River Valley Alliance for Economic Development, and the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce. She is a member of the Pope County steering committee for Uncommon Communities, a WinRock Breakthrough Community Development Initiative.

Bowen also holds a doctorate in higher education administration from Texas Tech University and a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy from the University of Kansas.

OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD

Anna Egalite teaches in the Department of Educational Leadership, Policy and Human Development at North Carolina State University. She earned a doctorate in education policy from the U of A.

Egalite holds the rank of assistant professor. Her research focuses on the evaluation of education policies and programs intended to close racial and economic achievement gaps, such as the introduction of market forces into education through school choice and competition.

She has examined the competitive impacts of private school voucher programs on public school achievement, how voucher-induced student transfers affect racial stratification in public and private schools, and the effects of being assigned to a teacher of the same race and ethnicity. Egalite’s scholarly articles have appeared in the journals Economics of Education Review, Education and Urban Society, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, and the Peabody Journal of Education, and her research has been featured in a number of mainstream media outlets, including The New York Times, USA Today, The Atlantic, Education Week, and Politico.

She also has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and history from St. Patrick’s College in Dublin, Ireland, and a master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education.

OUTSTANDING ALUMNI IN EDUCATION AWARD

Yvonne Johnson has served as dean of the Humanities and Social Sciences Division at St. Louis Community College since 2007 and is the author of numerous books, chapters and articles. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the U of A. She wrote The Voices of African American Women and edited Feminist Frontiers: Women Who Shaped the Midwest.

Johnson previously taught at the University of Central Missouri, where she received three grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities for summer study and received the university’s highest award, the Byler Award for Excellence in Teaching. She led several study abroad semesters for students in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and in Ghana, West Africa. In 2006, she received a Fulbright Teaching Award to Envila Institute in Minsk, Belarus.

She co-authored and directed the Africana Studies Program in 2001 and accepted the position of director of Women’s Studies in 2004.

Johnson also has a master’s degree in history from the University of Colorado and a doctorate in history of ideas from the University of Texas at Dallas.

AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED CONTRIBUTION

Reed Greenwood served as dean of the College of Education and Health Professions for eight years during a 35-year career at the U of A. He earned a doctorate in counselor education from the U of A, as well as master’s and bachelor’s degrees.

While he served as dean, the college secured a gift of $20 million for scholarships and faculty chairs, increased enrollment by over 50 percent, recruited more than 50 new faculty members, and increased the college endowment from less than $4 million to over $34 million. Greenwood has published numerous papers and made presentations in the fields of counseling, rehabilitation and education. He was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the President’s Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities and by Gov. Bill Clinton to the Arkansas Board of Examiners in Counseling. 

Greenwood served on the Fayetteville Board of Education, Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education in Arkansas, and the boards of the Northwest Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Walton Arts Center, University of Arkansas Alumni Association, United Way of Washington County, Lifestyles, Sources for Independent Living and as Junior and Senior Warden of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville. His current service includes the Fayetteville Public Education Foundation, Ambassadors of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, Advisory Board of the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Towers of Old Main, University of Arkansas Chancellor’s Society and University of Arkansas Capital Campaign Committee.

About the College of Education and Health Professions: The College of Education and Health Professions offers advanced academic degrees as well as professional development opportunities and learning communities in service to the education and health systems of Arkansas and beyond. The college works closely with educational leaders across the state to continuously improve systems and educational outcomes for students and with health-care leaders to improve those systems and health outcomes for everyone.