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Ouachita Students Named To Fall 2023 Dean's List, Office Of Communications & Marketing

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Ouachita Baptist University has named more than 395 students to its Dean’s List for Fall 2023.

To be named to the Dean’s List, a student must compile a 3.5–3.9 grade point average and be classified as a full-time student, with a minimum of 12 academic hours and no incomplete or failing grade for the semester.

Ouachita Baptist University, a private liberal arts university, is in its 138th year as a Christ-centered learning community and is ranked nationally by U.S. News & World Report. Ouachita continues to break enrollment records, reporting its highest headcount in 57 years during the Fall 2023 …

"Stepping Up" Luncheon To Honor Huckabee Women In November, Anna Roussel, Office Of Communications & Marketing

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Ouachita Baptist University’s Office of Development has announced its annual Stepping Up for Ouachita luncheon, presented by Simmons Bank, will be held Friday, Nov. 17, at Chenal Country Club in Little Rock, Ark. The event will recognize its first mother-and-daughter honorees, former Arkansas First Lady Janet Huckabee and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Ticket and sponsorship information is available at obu.edu/steppingup.

Since its inaugural event in November 2010, Stepping Up for Ouachita has raised more than $840,000 toward scholarships for women at Ouachita and is looking toward surpassing $1 million in 2023. Every year the university honors outstanding Ouachita women …

Ouachita Senior Joshua Spiva Publishes Research Paper In "Polymers", Addie Woods, Office Of Communications & Marketing

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Joshua Spiva, a senior biomedical sciences and chemistry double major from Magnet Cove, Ark., published a research paper in the scientific journal, “Polymers.”

The paper, titled “Electrospinning Drug-Loaded Alginate-Based Nanofibers towards Developing a Drug Release Rate Catalog,” details the results of Spiva’s research on creating a catalog to help biomedical scientists understand how drugs release from certain materials. He worked for more than 2 ½ years on the project with Dr. Sharon Hamilton, associate professor of chemistry at Ouachita, to complete research that Hamilton began with students at Delta State University, where she was an assistant professor of chemistry before …

Robert S. Moore Jr. Given Distinguished Alumni Award, Felley Lawson, Office Of Communications & Marketing

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Arkansas Highway Commission Chairman Robert S. Moore Jr. received the Distinguished Alumni Award for Public Service to the State of Arkansas from Ouachita during an August luncheon held on campus in his honor.

The award was presented to Moore by Dr. Ben R. Sells, Ouachita president, and Taylor King, chair of the university’s Board of Trustees.

Jaymee Dotson On Pace For Extended Reign, Brian Ramsey, Office Of Communications & Marketing

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When Jaymee Dotson takes the field in the fall of 2022 for Ouachita women’s soccer, she has a chance to accomplish a feat that no one else has.

The Princeton, Texas, native has been the best midfielder in the Great American Conference since her freshman season, a claim supported by the league’s head coaches with four consecutive first team all-conference selections. This past season, she was a unanimous first team selection and was the unanimous pick for the league’s midfielder of the year award. She also earned all- region honors from a pair of organizations, and was selected to the …

Ouachita Chemistry Students Clower, Mccoy Named Arkansas Academy Of Science Grant Recipients, Claire Phillips, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University chemistry students Cori Clower and Aiiryel McCoy, both of Little Rock, have been chosen as two of the four students statewide to receive undergraduate student research grants from the Arkansas Academy of Science (AAS). AAS funds grants of up to $1,000 each spring to assist students with purchasing supplies for their research projects.

Both Clower and McCoy authored their own grant proposals, which were approved for funding and announced at the AAS in April 2021. Clower, a junior biomedical sciences major, and McCoy, a senior chemistry major, are conducting their respective research projects over the course of …

Ouachita Student Awarded Advancing Diversity In Dietetics Scholarship, Mackenzie Hall, Ouachita News Bureau

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Latina Robinson of North Little Rock, Ark., a Dietetic Internship graduate student at Ouachita Baptist University, is one of two recipients a $25,000 Advancing Diversity in Dietetics Scholarship from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) Foundation.

The scholarship was established to advance inclusion, diversity, equity and access for dietetics students to increase racial and ethnic diversity in the field. The $25,000 scholarship is for the 2021-2022 academic year to support students as they pursue dietetic careers.

Ouachita Department Of Nursing Receives Governor's Quality Award, Felley Lawson, Ouachita News Bureau

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Gov. Asa Hutchinson presented the Ouachita Baptist University Department of Nursing with the 2021 Governor’s Quality Award earlier this semester during a banquet hosted by the Arkansas Institute for Performance Excellence (AIPE), award sponsors, in the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Hotel in Little Rock.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with the progress our nursing program has made in such a short period of time,” said Dr. Tim Knight, dean of the J.D. Patterson School of Natural Sciences at Ouachita. “To be recognized in this way affirms our efforts to have a quality nursing program at Ouachita.”

Ouachita Gives $50,000 To Arkadelphia Mlk Park Project, Felley Lawson, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University has made a $50,000 pledge to help fund construction of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park in Arkadelphia, the first organizational contribution to the project.

The MLK Memorial Park Committee is led by honorary co-chairs and Ouachita alumni Fitzgerald Hill and Mitch Bettis, both natives of Arkadelphia. They are seeking to raise $2.5 million through grass-roots community efforts to develop the park in King’s memory.

“Ouachita has been a part of the Arkadelphia since our founding in 1886, and this is an important investment in our community and our shared future,” said Dr. Ben Sells, Ouachita …

Ouachita Receives Part Of $6.1 Million Grant Establishing Institute Focused On Virus Research, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University is one of five partner institutions benefiting from a $6.1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to fund the study of viruses and viral ecology. The University of Arkansas leads the effort.

The grant will establish a Host-Virus Evolutionary Dynamics Institute (HVEDI) at UA with an HVEDI hub site at Ouachita. Nathan Reyna, associate professor of biology, serves as a co-principal investigator on the primary award and as the lead on the sub-award to Ouachita. Ruth Plymale, associate professor of biology and holder of the J.D. Patterson Chair of Biology at Ouachita, serves as campus lead …

Ouachita Graduate Named Alpha Chi H.Y. Benedict Fellowship Fourth Alternate, Mandy Halbert, Ouachita News Bureau

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Alpha Chi National College Honor Society named Sidney Salyers of Sugar Land, Texas, the $3,000 H.Y. Benedict Fellowship fourth alternate at the Alpha Chi National Convention in April. Salyers graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication sciences and disorders from Ouachita Baptist University in May.

The H.Y. Benedict Fellowship is awarded to nominees for their first year of graduate study at any institution. Nominees must complete their undergraduate degree in the year of their application for the fellowship and must enroll in a full-time graduate or professional program for the following semester. Applicants for the …

Hamilton Awarded $20,000 Arkansas Inbre Grant To Purchase Lyophilizer, Enhance Ouachita's School Of Natural Science Laboratories, Madison Cresswell, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University’s Dr. Sharon Hamilton, assistant professor of chemistry, has been awarded $20,000 in funding by Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) to purchase a lyophilizer freeze-dryer, an instrument used to remove aqueous solvents in industry and research. The instrument will be used to enhance both course-based undergraduate research and independent research projects in Ouachita’s Patterson School of Natural Sciences as well as Henderson State University’s Ellis College of Arts and Sciences.

Cross Brandon Named Winner Of Ouachita's 2020 Mcbeth Concerto Competition, Rachel Gaddis

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Ouachita Baptist University’s Cross Brandon was named the winner of the 2020 W. Francis and Mary McBeth Wind and Percussion Concerto Competition on Nov. 20. Because the event was limited to the Ouachita community due to COVID-19, the event can be viewed at livestream.com/obu.

Brandon is a junior music industry major from Little Rock, Ark. He received a $500 award for his saxophone performance of “Rhapsody for Baritone Saxophone and Piano” by M. Watters. He also has been invited to perform with the Ouachita Wind Ensemble in Spring 2020.

Ouachita Faculty Team Selected For National Disability Inclusion Grant, Rachel Gaddis, Ouachita News Bureau

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A team of Ouachita Baptist University faculty members has been selected as a recipient of the Accelerating Disability Inclusion Community-Based Micro-Grant by the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability’s (NCHPAD) Inclusion: Community Micro-Grant Program. Ouachita is one of seven community-based organizations from around the country to be awarded the micro-grant.

According to the NCHPAD website, recipients of the program’s Accelerating Disability Inclusion Community-Based Micro-Grant are charged with creating or advancing disability inclusion efforts – in programs, policy, systems or environments – through an innovative, community-based project.

Ouachita's 2018-2019 Yearbook Named Pacemaker Finalist By Associated Collegiate Press, Rachel Gaddis, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University’s Ouachitonian yearbook has been named a Pacemaker Finalist by the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) for its 2018-2019 edition, “Untold.” The Ouachitonian is one of seven finalists from around the country to be eligible for the Pacemaker Award, which will be announced in October.

Ouachita Students Earn Three Of Seven Top Awards In 2020 Arkansas College Media Association Competition, Jessica Daniell, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University students earned 36 awards at the recent Arkansas College Media Association (ACMA) conference, three of which were awards in General Excellence for Yearbook of the Year, Yearbook Editor of the Year and Website Editor of the Year.

Ouachita Yearbook One Of Five Receive National Cspa Crown Award, Rachel Moreno, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University’s yearbook, the Ouachitonian, was one of five universities in the nation to receive a Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) Gold or Silver Crown Award for its 2017-2018 edition yearbook, “Timeless,” at the 2019 Crown Awards held in New York City on Friday, March 8. The Ouachitonian yearbook was awarded the prestigious Silver Crown Award at the convention.

Ouachita Student Catie Shirley Receives National American Chemical Society Leadership Award, Abby Turner, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University student Catie Shirley recently was awarded the American Chemical Society (ACS) Leadership Award, allowing her to attend the ACS Leadership Institute conference in Atlanta Jan. 25-27. Shirley, a junior biology major with a chemistry minor from Wylie, Texas, was one of 16 undergraduate students from around the country to receive the ACS Leadership Award.

Ouachita Communications Staff Earns Three Prsa Arkansas Prism Awards, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University’s Office of Communications was honored with three Prism Awards at the 2017 ARcom Awards ceremony, held Thursday, Sept. 14, at the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub in North Little Rock. The team also was recognized as one of three finalists for Best in Show.

The Prism Awards were presented by the Arkansas chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. PRSA Arkansas joined with the Arkansas chapter of International Association of Business Communicators and Ad Club Little Rock to host the inaugural ARcom Awards event, bringing together leading marketing and communications professionals from across the state. Roby Brock …

Ouachita Enactus Team Named Regional Champions, Advances To Nationals, Sarah Davis, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University’s Enactus team was named champion at its annual regional competition recently in Dallas, Texas. The team will compete May 21-23 at the Enactus National Exposition in Kansas City, Kan. The competition includes five leagues with seven teams each that compete against each other. The top four teams in each league move on to nationals. The teams prepare a script and video and select a team of students to present.

“Throughout the year we push ourselves to create the best solutions to problems that we encounter and make sure that we document everything along the way,” said OBU …

Ouachita Senior Wins Runner-Up Sigma Tau Delta International Convention, Sarah Davis, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University senior Shelby Spears won first runner-up for Best Creative Non-fiction Essay in the Sigma Tau Delta International Convention’s Isabel Sparks President’s Awards. The convention was held March 29-April 1 in Louisville, Ky.

Spears, a senior English and Spanish double major from El Dorado, Ark., is a member of the Sigma Tau Delta international English honors society. His creative essay titled “Do You Make Your Own Tortillas?” tells the story of his grandmother’s passing.

Ouachita Honored As Arkadelphia's 2017 Large Business Of The Year, Trennis Henderson, Ouachita News Bureau

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Expressing appreciation to Ouachita Baptist University “for your service to our community,” the Arkadelphia Regional Economic Development Alliance and Area Chamber of Commerce recognized Ouachita as Arkadelphia’s 2017 Large Business of the Year.

The award was presented to Ouachita President Ben Sells by David Goodman, Chamber of Commerce president, and Shelley Loe, Alliance and Chamber executive vice president, during the organization’s banquet held March 2 in Ouachita’s Walker Conference Center.

Ouachita Earns Top Tier Academic Rankings From Forbes, U.S. News And Usatoday, Trennis Henderson, Ouachita News Bureau

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Maintaining a longstanding tradition of academic excellence and value, Ouachita Baptist University continues to be ranked among the top universities in the nation by Forbes magazine, U.S. News & World Report and USAToday/CollegeFactual.com.

This year’s rankings mark the eighth consecutive year that Ouachita has been named among “America’s Top Colleges” by Forbes. It also is the sixth year in a row that Ouachita has been named among U.S. News & World Report’s top tier of “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges.”

Ouachita's Renovated Wright Choir Room Honors Dedication Of Dr. Charles Wright, Trennis Henderson, Ouachita News Bureau

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Honoring the influence and impact of longtime Ouachita Baptist University professor and administrator Dr. Charles Wright, more than 100 students, faculty and staff members gathered recently to celebrate the rededication of the Charles W. Wright Choir Room in Ouachita’s Mabee Fine Arts Center.

Ouachita Accounting Professor Bob Webster Earns National Research Award, Haley Martin, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University Professor Emeritus Robert L. Webster received the American Accounting Association’s 2016 KPMG Best Paper Award from the Gender Issues & Work-Life Balance (GIWB) Section of the AAA.

Ouachita’S Yearbook Recognized As Top In The State, Rachel Gaddis, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University’s Ouachitonian yearbook was recognized by the Arkansas College Media Association (ACMA) as the top yearbook in the state with the first place award in General Excellence for yearbooks. The publication was recognized at ACMA’s recent annual convention, hosted this year by the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. The Ouachitonian and Ouachita’s student newspaper, The Signal, earned a total of 40 group and individual awards.

ACMA is an organization of collegiate newspaper, yearbook, online, magazine and television staffs from across the state. All Arkansas university publications compete in the awards regardless of the university’s size.

Obu Professor Dr. Craig Hamilton Earns National Award Honoring Career Of Excellence, Anna Hurst, Ouachita News Bureau

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Dr. Craig Hamilton, Lena Goodwin Trimble Professor of Music at Ouachita Baptist University, recently received the Association of Concert Bands’ (ACB) Herbert L. and Jean Schultz Mentor Ideal Award.

"Dr. Craig Hamilton is a well-deserving professor of this award,” said Dr. Gary Gerber, dean of Ouachita’s School of Fine Arts. “He has been a leader and mentor to several students and faculty during his tenure at Ouachita.”

Ouachita Honors Patty Jones As Support Staff Member Of The Year, Rachel Gaddis, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University’s Staff Development Committee along with interim president Dr. Charles Wright recently named Patty Jones the Support Staff Member of the Year. Jones, who has worked for Ouachita 17 years, is a student account specialist and veterans affairs certifying officer in the Office of Student Financial Services.

The Support Staff Member of the Year Award is presented annually to a member of Ouachita’s support staff who demonstrates outstanding performance in his or her job, relates positively to students, co-workers and the general public and who supports the mission of university. The Staff Development Committee reviews all nominations before …

Four Ouachita Students Earn “Speak Simply” Awards At National Acs Meeting, Anna Hurst, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University students won four of the 15 “Speak Simply” awards in the Undergraduate Research Poster Contest at the American Chemical Society (ACS) national meeting held in March in San Diego, Calif. Approximately 1,400 students from across the nation were eligible to compete in the contest, which requires participants to clearly present their research in around two minutes, using language free of technical jargon.

Students who won the award included Jessica Compton, Emily Harris, Nathan Hall and Rachel Tucker. A total of 12 Ouachita students representing the Patterson School of Natural Sciences and the Ouachita ACS student chapter had …

Obu Professor Margarita Pintado Wins International Poetry Award, Anna Hurst, Ouachita News Bureau

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Dr. Margarita Pintado, assistant professor of Spanish at Ouachita Baptist University, recently won first prize in the poetry category of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture’s (ICP) 2015 Literature Awards for her manuscript “A Girl Who Looks Like Me.”