RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (December 10, 2007)--E.E. Hudson is well-versed in the history of Arkansas Tech University.
A member of the Tech faculty from 1961-92 and now a professor emeritus of biology, Hudson can remember an Arkansas Tech before technology changed the face of education.
“In those days, you could know every single faculty member by name, and a great number of the students,” said Hudson. “There was a great deal of camaraderie among the faculty and the students. Many of the old-timers were still around when I first came to Tech, and when I look around at all of the buildings on campus today, I realize that I had the opportunity to know most of the people for whom the buildings are named.”
He also has a keen understanding of the future and the importance of increased higher education opportunities within his home state. It is for that reason that he has established the E.E. Hudson Biology Scholarship at Arkansas Tech.
A native of Clarksville, Hudson has donated $100,000 to Tech to endow the scholarship, which will benefit Tech biology students for decades to come.
“My family has lived in Arkansas for 10 generations,” said Hudson. “I want students from Arkansas high schools to have a leg up and an opportunity to go to college. Arkansas needs to have a higher percentage of its high school students go on to attain a college education. If our state is to make any progress, we must have more college graduates.
“We’ve all seen the charts on the differences in earning power between a person who graduates from college and one who does not,” continued Hudson, “and not only does that individual prosper, but the entire state does because that graduate will in turn pay more taxes.”
The Arkansas Tech School of Physical and Life Sciences hosted a potluck event at McEver Hall on Friday, Dec. 7, to honor Hudson not only for his generosity, but for his lifelong commitment to education.
“Double E will long be remembered at Arkansas Tech University for his excellence in the classroom,” said Dr. Robert C. Brown, Tech president, at the event. “It is our hope that this scholarship will help future generations understand and aspire to emulate the example set by E.E. Hudson.”
“I run into former students all the time, students who have not been at Tech for many decades,” said Dr. Jack Hamm, Tech vice president for academic affairs. “They will often tell me that the single most positive influence on their lives during their time at Tech was E.E. Hudson. This is because his door was always open and he always put the students first.”
