FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Douglas and Marsha Rhoads value the benefits of being surrounded by people from different backgrounds and want to add to the diversity of the University of Arkansas campus.

The Fayetteville couple is making a planned gift to create the Rhoads Endowed Graduate Assistantship, so more students from underrepresented backgrounds can pursue graduate degrees in Cell and Molecular Biology from the university.

“This generous gift aligns with our mission to provide graduate education for those students who would find it out of reach,” said Patricia Koski, dean of the graduate school and international education. “We believe that a more diverse student body enriches the educational experience for all, and prepares our students to work and live with people of varied backgrounds.”

The Rhoadses moved to Fayetteville in 1990 from Manhattan, Kansas, where they had worked alongside students from all over the world. At the U of A, Douglas Rhoads joined the Department of Biological Sciences in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and helped create the interdisciplinary graduate program in Cell and Molecular Biology in the Graduate School and International Education. He is a University Professor and has been the director of the Cell and Molecular Biology Program since 2006, guiding the program as it grew to one of the largest doctoral programs on campus. Since coming to Fayetteville, he has also worked diligently to increase diversity in the university’s graduate programs.

Marsha Rhoads first joined the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences in 1990, where she worked in plant pathology, and poultry science. Later, she worked in biological sciences and retired from the university in 2013.

“Having helped build the graduate program in cell and molecular biology, I know a big challenge is to not only attract students but help provide funding for them so they’ll be financially secure throughout the program,” Douglas Rhoads said. “Hopefully this scholarship can help encourage students to commit to pursuing their graduate career in Fayetteville.”

In his time as a professor at the university, Douglas Rhoads said he has met students who never left their home state or ventured onto an airplane. Bringing them to campus opens up new world views and benefits not only the student but the university community as well. Said Rhoads, “We want the U of A to provide a rich learning environment for students. We’ve seen the benefits of a diverse culture and being surrounded by different backgrounds.”

The Rhoads Endowed Graduate Assistantship will recruit and attract highly qualified individuals to pursue studies in the interdisciplinary graduate program in Cell and Molecular Biology in the Graduate School, with a focus on underrepresented students who graduated from an Arkansas high school. Funds from the award will be used to support a monthly stipend, applicable fringe benefits and tuition. Recipients may also be eligible to receive assistance for travel for research meetings.

Tameka Bailey, an assistant professor in biological sciences, was recruited to the Cell and Molecular Biology Program by Douglas Rhoads and can attest to the difference the experience – and his mentorship – made to her graduate and professional careers. 

“The ongoing mentorship that I have received from Dr. Rhoads has changed the trajectory of my life,” Bailey said. “He understood that as an underrepresented minority from rural Arkansas, I would need extensive and engaging mentorship to be successful in the program. He challenged me to excel in graduate school, and he had high expectations for me. After I graduated from the U of A, he helped me find my first job, advised me through my postdoc and has been instrumental in my career development now as a faculty member. I wouldn’t be here without the generosity, wisdom and compassion of Dr. Rhoads.”

Bailey, too, has taken the initiative to help recruit more underrepresented students from Arkansas, particularly those in the Delta, where she grew up. With Rhoads’s help, she developed a biomedical research camp for students from her hometown in Gould and Dumas, Arkansas.

“These students – who may not have otherwise dreamed they could pursue the sciences in this way – could now have the opportunity to receive the financial support they need for graduate school,” Bailey said. “That’s an exciting opportunity.”

Douglas and Marsha Rhoads are counted as Thoroughreds for their 30 years of consecutive giving to the university and are included in the Towers of Old Main, a giving society for the university’s most generous benefactors.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas’ economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the top 3% of U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.