Welcome to the April 2025 Round Up of the Fulbright REVIEW Blog
Hello Fulbright College friends, supporters, families, faculty, staff, alumni, and students,
April at Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences means the annual academic finish line known as commencement is just a few short weeks away.
It is also always one of the busiest months for us on campus, as it is filled with so many events, activities and celebrations, particularly those honoring our graduating students who will soon become our newest alumni.
On the event front, we’ve got Art thesis exhibitions and numerous student Musical performances happening, and are wrapping up the latest Theatre production this week.
We debuted the Peter Ungar Lecture Series in Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, which honors the namesake for his historic induction into the National Academy of Science and are gearing up to honor nine incredible faculty retirees at the end of the month.
We also recently successfully promoted 32 faculty members in tenured and research roles and welcomed a new provost who is returning to campus.
You can meet some of these extraordinary folks and learn more about these awesome events right here in the April edition of the Fulbright REVIEW.
To kick things off, meet this inspiring first-generation, non-traditional student and single mother who is a finalist for the 2025 Harry S. Truman Scholarship, and the members of our award-winning Mock Trial Team.
You can also get to know more about our unique peer-mentoring focused Career Influencers initiative and meet this student athlete named an All-American honorable mention, the first Razorback to make the list since 2020-21.
After that, meet an alumnus and instructor who won a prestigious African fellowship, and a team of researchers making breakthroughs by creating a new type of antimicrobial surface.
Our 2025 Jazz Festival is also in full swing and the 2025 Black Alumni Society Reunion weekend is coming up, while our experts are exploring the impact of lithium on Arkansas in this new podcast episode.
You can also learn about a scholarship that will help address critical student funding gaps, and how the Arkansas Department of Higher Education recently awarded us $750,000 to invest in data science workforce training.
Then, meet the members of our award-winning student-run advertising agency, and the classical studies students who earned accolades at the recent national undergraduate honors society meeting.
In publishing news, check out the art historian’s two pieces featured in a top magazine of contemporary art critique, and this historian’s new book that is the culmination of a U of A Humanities Center grant.
Next, help celebrate this faculty member who recently received an endowed chair in political science, this sociologist who won a teaching award, and this musician who just released his 10th studio album.
In other great research news, a team of our scientists linked sea anemones to kidney disease in humans through a common gene which could lead to new treatment breakthroughs, while our historians presented on the memory, culture and ecology of the nation’s interior highlands.
Finally, we also paid tribute to a Razorback Bands leader remembered for his service, fortitude and community contributions, and memorialized a beloved former history professor, an outstanding English professor and administrator, and a physics professor who dedicated his life to building a better U of A.
If you’d like to learn more about the extraordinary people, initiatives, projects and activities that make up Fulbright College, please visit our Facebook, Twitter / X, Instagram or LinkedIn social media channels. Our handle is @uarkfulbright on all.
We’ll also keep providing you with more new stories at fulbrightreview.uark.edu, so stay tuned.
On a personal note, I’m really looking forward to commencement and to seeing all of our accomplished graduates walk across the stage. It’s always such a privilege to shake their hands while their families and friends cheer them on as they reach this milestone. It’s a true highlight of my year. Let’s end the semester strong and celebrate!
As always, my team and I would love to hear from you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out or share your thoughts via fulbright@uark.edu.
Sincerely,
Brian E. Raines
Dean, Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences