SAU receives new science equipment through grant

The College of Science and Technology at Southern Arkansas University has received specialized equipment for use in its physics laboratories, thanks to a grant from Aerojet Corporation through the GenCorp Foundation. Connie Wilbur, human resources manager of Aerojet in Camden, visited SAU recently to observe students using the Millikan’s Oil Drop Apparatus purchased with the grant. With this equipment, students in intermediate and advanced physics laboratories will be able to perform the physics experiment that established the existence of subatomic particles.

Aerojet is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader, principally serving the missile and space propulsion and defense and armaments markets. The GenCorp Foundation was established in 2000 to meet the charitable needs of the communities where the company conducts business. Its primary giving focus is education, specifically science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This giving focus targets students to better prepare them to be educated citizens and contributing members of our nation’s future workforce. Aerojet and its parent corporation GenCorp have been faithful supporters of the College of Science and Technology at SAU.

The Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation inducted as new members of the Mulerider Society

Pictured above are Dr. David Rankin, SAU President, presenting the Mulerider Society Award to Mrs. Pat Walker and Ms. Debbie Walker of The Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation at the 2009 SAU Foundation Honor Societies Dinner.

The Mulerider Society recognizes those who, through contributions to the SAU Foundation, support any area of the University by making cumulative contributions of $500,000 or more.

The Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation, through two grants to the Mulerider Baseball Program, has gifted $660,000 to benefit Southern Arkansas University and its students.

Other members of the Mulerider Society are:

Mr. and Mrs. Harold Fincher

Mr. and Mrs. Phillip E. Laney

Mr. and Mrs. John Rhea, Jr.

Farmers Bank and Trust

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. adds to scholarship endowment

Members of the Magnolia Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. present the Southern Arkansas University Foundation with a check for $5,000 to rejuvenate their endowment and add benefits to the current students. The Delta Sigma Theta endowment began in 1977 and was completed at $8,000 in 1987. Pictured are, from left, Irs Harris, Cheryl Felder Stuart, Mary Porchia-Wilborn, Dr. Kathleen Mallory and Virginia Todd of Delta Sigma Theta; Josh Kee and Jeanie Bismark of the SAU Foundation.

Lamar & Patsy Reece enter Legacy Society

Lamar and Patsy Reece of McCaskill, Arkansas, are the newest members of the Southern Arkansas University Foundation Legacy Society. The Legacy Society recognizes individuals who have included SAU in their estate planning.

Reece, a retired director of transportation for the Pulaski County School District, attended Magnolia A & M where he played both football and basketball for Coach Elmer Smith. Following military service, he returned to Magnolia to complete his education. After graduating he spent many years as a coach and administrator in Arkansas schools.

The Reece’s are now enjoying their retirement in the country. Because of his love of sports, this gift will benefit the athletic department.

George Lowrance Hodge

When George Lowrance Hodge attended Southern Arkansas University (SSC) in 1952, he received a $25 per semester scholarship because he had been the salutatorian of his Lewisville High School graduating class. That small scholarship really helped with school expenses, and he remembers students who did not have assistance and had to work hard in the cafeteria, bookstore or other jobs to earn enough to attend college.

Although he spent only a year at SAU, the tight-knit atmosphere left a positive impression on him. ”SAU gave me an excellent educational foundation and was a bridge between high school and university life. I had excellent instructors,” Lowrance Hodge said.

So, he and his wife, Marilyn Hodge, of Dallas, Texas decided to honor SAU with an endowment for a pre-engineering scholarship. “I knew students who had a hard time paying for their education. If a scholarship can help someone get their engineering degree a little quicker or with less financial stress, then that is what we would like to have it do.”

After leaving SAU, Lowrance Hodge attended the University of Texas on an NROTC scholarship, and after his sophomore year there, served four years on active duty as a pilot in the U.S. Navy. With the military experience under his belt, he was eligible for the G.I. Bill and finished his undergraduate Industrial Engineering degree at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He later went on to receive his master’s degree from Oklahoma State University.

Lowrance Hodge retired in 1997 as a senior vice president of Mary Kay Inc. in Dallas. Since then he keeps active by volunteering for an organization called the Service Corp of Retired Executives (SCORE), a group sponsored by the Small Business Association. This organization provides free counseling to people who are trying to establish or improve a new business.

As for knowing someone as famous as Mary Kay, who made pink Cadillacs synonymous with cosmetics, Lowrance said she definitely lived up to her stellar reputation and had a gift for communicating with people. “She was a super lady, one of those few people that regardless of the circumstances, made you feel as though you were the most important person in the world to her.”

Bettie Clark

Bettie Clark of Houston made a donation of $300,000 in scholarships to Southern Arkansas University in honor of her siblings: Mary Alice Wallace and Billy Wallace, who both attended the University, and her youngest brother, Robert James Wallace. Her parents, Carl and Ona Wallace, attended SAU when it was the Third District Agricultural School. The scholarship money benefits the nursing program at SAU.

“When I went to nursing training down in Houston, I got to go on a scholarship and that is one reason I wanted to give something back,” Clark, who became a Registered Nurse, said.

As life progressed and she and her late husband, McGinnis Clark, found much success in the lumber industry in Houston, they decided they wanted to make an impact on people who faced the same challenges  they had.

“God had blessed me and my husband so much that we just wanted to help somebody else.”