FULBRIGHT COLLEGE NAMES DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI FOR 2000-2001

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Dean Randall Woods has selected five graduates of the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas as distinguished alumni for 2000-2001, in recognition of outstanding achievements in fields ranging from physiology to cancer research and banking technology.

"These alumni have made meaningful contributions to society through their research, leadership and community involvement. They have used their knowledge to improve lives and help others. They serve to remind us all of the very tangible benefits and influence of higher education," said Dean Woods.

Deborah Oates Erwin, a 1976 UA graduate in anthropology, is associate professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology at the University of Arkansas for Medical and associate director for education at the Arkansas Cancer Research Center in Little Rock. She is co-founder of the Witness Project®, a breast and cervical cancer education and screening program for African American women. The Project includes cancer survivors and health advisors in 13 states. Dr. Erwin, who has received over $4.5 million in federal, state and local funding for her research, was the 1995 recipient of the Community Service Award for Individuals from the Susan G. Komen Foundation. She also holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in anthropology from Southern Methodist University.

Dr. C. Sue Carter, who received her Ph.D. in zoology from the U of A, is widely recognized for her research in the hormone mechanisms that determine monogamous behavior in mammals.

She has reported her findings at over 75 seminars and special presentations since 1980. She is the author of four books, The Biology of Monogamy her most recent, as well as 30 book chapters and 116 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals. She has held research and teaching positions at the University of Illinois-Champaign, Stanford University Medical School, and the National Science Foundation. Carter, who is principal investigator for over $5 million in extramural grant support, serves as Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Maryland and is a guest researcher at the National Institutes of Health.

For 35 years, Professor Lyna Lee Montgomery has been a mainstay of the UA Department of English. She earned her M.A. in 1964 and her Ph.D. in 1967 from the U of A. Dr. Montgomery has received numerous teaching and advising awards, including the Cardinal Key Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1981, the Burlington Northern Outstanding Teacher in 1985, the Fulbright College Outstanding Advisor Award in 1993, and the Fulbright College Master Teacher Award in 1998. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, she developed courses for the English department in the Bible as literature, Irish literature, and the short story. She has been a dissertation advisor for many doctoral students and served as a member of numerous UA committees over the years. Professor Montgomery’s service to her students, her department, and the university has been exemplary.

Dr. Bobby Roberts, who earned his M.A. in 1972 and Ph.D. in 1978 in history, became Director of the Central Arkansas Library System in 1989, after serving as assistant curator of special collections at the U of A. He was a founding member of the Arkansas Archivists and Records Managers and the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas. In 1993, President Clinton appointed him to the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. He has served on the State Review Committee for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, the Delta Cultural Center Board and the Board of the Arkansas Department of Corrections. In honor of his efforts to repeal a statewide cap on public library tax rates and to build the Central Arkansas Library System, the Library Journal named him "Librarian of the Year" in 1997.

Dr. James Knox Hendren, who earned B.A., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the U of A, transformed a small company with four employees into an internationally company worth $12 million, with 140 employees and customers in 64 countries. Arkansas Systems, Inc. (ARKSYS), the largest software firm in Arkansas, has developed ATM technology for small banks, as well as products that allow community banks to connect with regional interchange networks and to offer real-time and point-of-sale teller machines, telephone banking, credit card processing and on-line banking. Hendren oversaw the development of clearing systems for the Central Bank of Russia, the Peoples’ Bank of China, and the states of Arkansas, Louisiana and Ohio. Arkansas Business named Arkansas Systems, Inc. a "Business of the Year" in 1987. In 1999 he founded eCountyInfo.com, a new dot com company offering access to every county in the country. Hendren is a community leader in Little Rock, serving as a member of the Arkansas Association of Entrepreneurs, the Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Knowledge-Based Companies of Arkansas, and the UALR Business Advisory Council.

These alumni, along with 34 distinguished alumni from 1998-99 and 1999-2000, have been invited to campus the weekend of April 20, to visit their departments, meet with students and faculty and attend a luncheon in their honor at the Janelle Y. Hembree Alumni House.

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Bobby Roberts

Deborah Erwin

James Hendren

Lyna Lee Montgomery

Sue Carter