University of Arkansas

After leading the Razorback Marching Band through Early Week and three weeks of regular rehearsals, four drum majors are ready to take the field for the season opener this Saturday as Arkansas hosts the University of North Alabama. Jose Rodriguez of Springdale, Mackenzie Schofield of Bentonville, Keri Brewington of Conway and Aiden Bowen of Fort Smith were selected as drum majors following a competitive audition process held during the spring semester. Schofield, Brewington and Bowen are serving in the role for the first time, while Rodriguez returns for a second year and will serve as head drum major.

Hope Caruthers taught kindergarten in Monticello, Arkansas, for nine years. Then, while finishing a master's degree delivered online by the University of Arkansas, she moved into an administrative position. "It has helped my career," Caruthers said. "I moved from a classroom teacher to the preschool director at the end of last year. So, I have finished my first year, but we have made so much progress in a year in our district, and I am super proud of that."

The English Department and the Program in Rhetoric and Composition are proud to announce the 2026 winners of the annual Jessie O'Kelly Freshman Composition Award. This year's winner is Hunter Thomas, a recreation and sports management major in the Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation. He will receive a $500 scholarship award for his paper, "Why Turf?", about the dangers athletes face when playing on artificial turf. Runner-up is Westin Spencer, supply chain management major in Walton College of Business. He will receive a $300 award for his paper, "Managing the United States Military Budget," for Maria Hare's Composition I class.

Michad Holliday and Yang Tian, two recent doctoral graduates from the U of A, earned this year's Distinguished Dissertation Award from the Graduate School and International Education. GSIE annually recognizes excellence in dissertation research and publication with the Distinguished Dissertation Awards, recognizing individuals who have completed dissertations representing original work that makes an unusually significant contribution to their disciplines. By winning the award, Holliday and Tian are also nominated to represent the U of A in competition for the Council of Graduate Schools/Proquest Distinguished Dissertation Award at the national level.

Six students in the course Japanese Movie Subtitling (JAPN 39803/WLLC 5750V) presented their completed English subtitles during a free screening of April, Come She Will (2024) on Friday, April 24, at the Arkansas Union Theatre. The collaborative, semester-long project showcased their work as scriptwriters and translators.

When Katie McKay walks across the graduation stage this May, she'll be the third McKay sibling to earn a degree from the U of A College of Engineering. Her older brothers pursued computer engineering and computer science, but she took a different path, one that would lead her to discover a passion she never expected.

Ryan Calabretta-Sajder and doctoral student Federico Tiberini recently showcased their research on Italian American culture at the annual conference of the Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States (MELUS), held in Austin, Texas, and co-sponsored by the University of Texas-Austin and Southern Methodist University.

Fifty-eight 2026 honors graduates were recently recognized at a reception as University of Arkansas's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences honored students at its yearly academic awards reception.

Faculty and students from the Department of Mathematical Sciences recently represented the U of A at two regional conferences focused on mathematics and mathematics education, highlighting innovative approaches to teaching and research. Their presentations emphasized strategies for reducing student anxiety, enhancing engagement and improving student experiences in mathematics classrooms.

Several undergraduate students from the University of Arkansas Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSDI) program recently presented research projects at the annual Arkansas Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ArkSHA) Convention, highlighting student-led work focused on clinical practice, research and community resources in speech-language pathology.

British by birth, Abel Fenwick's unlikely journey to studying cowboy literature at the U of A began in a hotel room in New Jersey binging Robert DuVall movies with a friend. That marathon included the Lonesome Dove miniseries, based off the beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Larry McMurtry.

Lovelace Amos, a higher education doctoral student at the University of Arkansas, was recently invited to attend the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum 2026, an opportunity inviting youth from around the world to engage with member states and contribute to the global dialogue on key issues with international impacts. The forum was held in the U.N. headquarters in New York City under the theme "Innovate, Unite and Transform: Youth Shaping the Road to 2030."

A devised theatre project that began with visits to a local bookshop has led to national-level recognition for U of A graduate students. Twelve M.F.A. theatre candidates earned Certificates of Training from the internationally acclaimed Tectonic Theater Project after presenting their original, company-devised play, Bookends.

Rosa Aldana, a student in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSDI) at the U of A, has been selected to serve as the Arkansas Student State Officer for the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA).

Ten University of Arkansas students and recent graduates have been selected as semi-finalists for the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program, one of the nation's most competitive and highly regarded international academic exchange programs. Both undergraduate and graduate students from a wide array of colleges and programs across the university are represented in this year's exceptional cohort of semi-finalists.

Student Media leaders traveled to San Francisco, California for the Associated Collegiate Press Spring National College Media Conference, learning from industry professionals and bringing home awards across categories that recognized students' creativity and innovation. Conference sessions gave students the opportunity to learn more about reporting on key issues such as immigration, mental health and homelessness. Industry professionals provided essential insight on the post-graduate job search and how students can use social media and data visualization to improve their work.

The Journal of Food Law & Policy is proud to announce second-year U of A School of Law student Brock Conklin as its new editor-in-chief for the 2026-27 academic year. "Since the beginning of this school year, while serving as a staff editor, it has been one of my goals to be selected as the next editor-in-chief," Conklin said. "For that to come to fruition is a special honor and a surreal experience. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to lead the Journal and hope to continue bolstering its legacy."

Mahboobeh Hemmati, a doctoral candidate in the Environmental Dynamics program, recently had her paper selected as an Editor's Choice Article in Buildings, an international peer-reviewed journal on building science, building engineering and architecture. Hemmati's paper, "Comparison of Embodied Carbon Footprint of a Mass Timber Building Structure With a Steel Equivalent," compares the amount of pollution created by the construction of a mass timber structure versus a steel-framed version of the same building. Her research concludes that mass timber significantly reduces the building's carbon footprint.

Lexi Applequist, a biomedical engineering Ph.D. researcher at the University of Arkansas and cofounder and CEO of Humimic Biosystems, has earned a spot on the prestigious Forbes 30 Under 30 Science list for 2026 - a recognition that underscores her groundbreaking work in revolutionizing how drugs are tested before reaching patients.

Jessica Culver teaches at Ozark High School while also earning a doctorate in adult and lifelong learning delivered online by the University of Arkansas. Culver was named the 2025-2026 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Secondary Level Social Studies Teacher of the Year at the NCSS Conference Opening Ceremony on Dec. 5 in Washington, D.C. Culver is scheduled to graduate with her doctorate next May. She is also a recipient of the W.E. Manning Memorial Scholarship for the past two academic years awarded by the Global Campus to students enrolled in online degree programs.

Second-year law student Emilee Webb has been selected to serve as editor-in-chief of the Arkansas Law Review (ALR) for the 2026-27 academic year. In addition to Webb, the editorial board was chosen along with members of the ALR. Published quarterly, the Arkansas Law Review has as its primary objective the dissemination of scholarly and authoritative articles on significant legal issues. Its editorial board serves the Arkansas legal community and beyond by publishing scholarship of state, national and international importance. It is cited and relied upon by lawyers and courts throughout the nation. Its articles and student writings have been quoted in books and learned journals throughout the world.

Avery Isaacson, Henry Jones, Madison Bussell Escoto, Abbie Ahlbrandt, Garrison Brister and Silas Wilkinson shared their scholarly and creative work at the inaugural Arkansas Liberal Arts and Humanities Day at the Arkansas State Capitol.

The University of Arkansas School of Art, housed in the Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences, is proud to announce its faculty, students and an alumna have been named to the Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts (ACNMWA) 2025-2027 Juried Artist Registry.

Tanmaie Kalapala, a University of Arkansas poultry science Ph.D. student, has been awarded a Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education 2025 Graduate Student Grant. This grant is awarded to graduate students at accredited institutions across the Southern region to conduct research projects on a wide variety of sustainable agriculture production, marketing and social science topics.

With a background in exercise physiology research at the University of Arkansas and over a decade of experience in strength training, PJ Koopmans found himself interested in learning more about muscle function in the context of exercise, aging and disease.

Rachel Siemens, a graduate student in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Program within the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas, has been awarded the Benjamin Franklin Lever Tuition Fellowship. This fellowship recognizes graduate students who contribute to the university community through their diverse backgrounds and insights while demonstrating academic excellence and professional growth.

Wendell Scales, a University of Arkansas doctoral student in Bumpers College's agricultural, food and life sciences program, was one of eight students from across the country selected to present at the first Farm Foundation Round Table meeting led entirely by Ph.D. students. Scales, whose Ph.D. concentration is agricultural leadership, brought a distinct voice rooted in community, youth development and the urgent need to reimagine how the next generation of agricultural leaders is prepared.

Civil engineering students from the University of Arkansas received high honors at the 2025 Texas Asphalt Pavement Association Asphalt Road-Eo event in Buda, Texas. The U of A team placed first in the rutting category and fourth overall at the regional competition.

University of Arkansas poultry science students Eniola Betiku, Seth Adesope, Luke Parisi and Adeola Abe were honored with Certificates of Excellence in Oral Presentation Awards for their research presentations at the 2025 Poultry Science Association Annual Meeting, held July 14-17, 2025, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

University of Arkansas Recreation and Wellness recently recognized the academic and occupational success of more than 300 of UREC's student employees. The group holds an average cumulative GPA of 3.5. Fifty students were recognized as UREC Aces, an honor awarded to employees with the highest cumulative GPAs. In addition, each UREC program area recognizes student employees who demonstrate excellence in their job responsibilities and serve as role models and connectors among their peers.