University Timeline (1984-2009)

1986 Roger Carlisle, a member of the ASU art faculty, designs the Arkansas Sesquicentennial stamp issued by the United States Postal Service.

1987 The ASU Convocation Center opens. Spring Commencement is the first event held in the new facility, with Governor Bill Clinton as guest speaker.

1990 Jonesboro resident and Arkansas State University Alumnus Debbye Turner becomes Miss America.

July 1, 1992 Arkansas State University begins its first capital campaign.

1992 Eugene W. Smith retires as ASU’s president.

1992 White River Vo-Tech becomes a part of ASU-Beebe; it later attains stand-alone status and becomes ASU-Newport.

1992 ASU Football moves to Division I-A level.

1992 ASU grants its first doctoral degree in educational leadership to Jane Jamison of Jonesboro.

July 13, 1992 John Mangieri becomes the newest president of Arkansas State University.

1993 ASU baseball is played on George Kell Field in the new J.A. “Ike” Tomlinson Stadium.

1993 New athletic logo replaces “Runnin’ Joe.”

April 1994 Dr. Robert Hoskins is appointed interim president of Arkansas State.

July 1994 Dr. Mossie Richmond is appointed as acting president following the sudden illness of Dr. Robert Hoskins, who died days later.

September 1, 1994 Dr. Eugene W. Smith returns as interim president of Arkansas State University while a nationwide search for a new president is conducted.

May 11, 1994 The Judd Hill Foundation makes a $1 million gift to the Arkansas State University Foundation to endow the Judd Hill Chair in Environmental Biology. It is the first million-dollar gift to the university’s foundation.

April 24, 1995 The Sturgis Trust, operating in memory of Roy and Christine Sturgis, makes a $1 million gift to the ASU Foundation to fund scholarships to Arkansas State University’s brightest students.

April 3, 1995 U.S. President and Arkansas native William Jefferson Clinton dedicates the eight-story bell tower that highlights the expansion of the Dean B. Ellis Library and integrates it with the ASU Museum.

July 1, 1995 James Leslie Wyatt becomes the tenth president of Arkansas State University.

July 1, 1995 ASU establishes a campus at Mountain Home, Arkansas, to be known as ASU-Mountain Home.

June 30, 1996  ASU’s first-ever capital campaign ends successfully after five years with charitable gifts made to the ASU Foundation totaling more than $21 million.1997 KASU celebrates 40 years of public radio service to the university and the region.

August 1997 Arkansas State begins offering a doctoral degree in Environmental Science.

1998 Jonesboro residents Wallace and Jama Fowler presents a $5 million gift to the university toward the construction of a performing arts center. At the time, it is the largest gift in the history of the ASU Foundation.

Fall 1998 A class of 80 students begins degree work at what quickly becomes ASU-Heber Springs, a satellite campus of ASU-Beebe.

March 12, 1999 The men’s basketball team appears in the NCAA Tournament for the first time.

July 4, 1999 The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center opens in Piggott, Arkansas as the university's first off-campus heritage site.

November 2000 The Equine Center, home of Garry Meadows Arena, opens at the northeastern corner of the campus.

2000 Collegiate Park, a new concept in upperclassman student housing, is completed.

2000 ASU Men’s Rugby Club receives national recognition, winning the National Championship Division II, Plate Division.

January 2001 Fowler Center, named for Wallace and Jama Fowler, opens as the region's new home for civic, arts and community activity.

August 2001 A third doctoral degree, in Heritage Studies, is offered. The first class has 14 students.

September 13, 2002 ASU alumna Kathy Brittain White makes a $2 million gift to the ASU Foundation to establish the Horizon Institute of Technology.

November 14, 2002 ASU President Dr. Les Wyatt announced a $2.8 million gift to the ASU Foundation from the estate of ASU alumnus James L. Thompson.

July 1, 2001 Delta Technical Institute at Marked Tree merges with Arkansas State University and becomes the ASU Technical Center.

Spring 2003 First nurse anesthesia program in the State of Arkansas is established at Arkansas State University.

July 1, 2003 Foothills Technical Institute merges with ASU-Beebe to become ASU-Searcy, a technical institute of ASU-Beebe.

September 2003 Darrell and Charlotte Pugh Cooper of Clarkston, Michigan make a gift of more than $2 million toward the construction a new alumni center on the ASU campus.

March 24, 2004 The $18 million Student Union opens on the ASU campus. Students began working toward the new building in 1997, when the Student Government Association voted to assess students a $10 per credit hour fee to pay for the facility.

April 22, 2004 The Judd Hill Foundation makes a second gift to the Arkansas State University Foundation to endow the Judd Hill Chair in Agricultural Biotechnology.

September 18, 2004 A public celebration is held to mark the opening of the Arkansas Biosciences Institute. The ABI was created as the major research component of the Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act of 2000, which was approved in the general election by 64 percent of Arkansas voters.

September 10, 2005 The Judd Hill Foundation makes its third $1 million charitable gift to the Arkansas State University Foundation to construct Judd Hill Center, home of the ASU Foundation.

October 2006 Dr. Robert L. Potts is selected as the first chancellor of Arkansas State University-Jonesboro.  Dr. Les Wyatt becomes first president of the Arkansas State University System.

October 2006 The Southern Tenant Farmers Museum opens in Tyronza, Arkansas as the university's second off-campus heritage site.

June 2007 The largest gift in ASU history--$14.5 million--is made to the ASU Foundation from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation for the construction of the Reynolds Center for Health Sciences. 

September 2007 The Lakeport Plantation opens in Lake Village, Arkansas as the university's third off-campus heritage site.

October 12, 2007 Beck PRIDE Center (Personal Rehabilitation, Individual Development and Education) established to assist injured military personnel who have served in defense of the United States.

November 3, 2007 Groundbreaking for the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Health Sciences.

November 16, 2007 Arkansas State University - Heber Springs campus opens and will serve as a center of ASU-Beebe.

February 28, 2008 The athletic nickname and mascot, 'Indians' and the Indian Family, are officially retired during a halftime ceremony at the men's basketball game between ASU and Louisiana-Monroe.
 
March 13, 2008  Red Wolves becomes the "new face" of ASU & ASU athletics.  A roll-out ceremony takes place at the Student Union to unveil the new mascot & imagery for the Red Wolves.  

April 4, 2008 Groundbreaking for the Student Recreation and Wellness Center.

May 25, 2008 Implosion of Twin Towers, a landmark men's residence hall for more than 40 years.

May 27, 2008 Groundbreaking for new campus facilities including the Honors College Residence Hall, a Student Apartment Complex, and the Delta Center for Economic Development.

June 23, 2008 Alumni Association launches brick campaign for former students and friends to leave legacy on the terrace of the New Cooper Alumni Center.

August, 2008 Master of Social Work Program begins.

September 11, 2008 Arkansas State University - Jonesboro reaches a record enrollment of 11,551.

September 11, 2008 Grossology (the impolite science of the human body), opens at the ASU Museum as a three-month Arkansas Discovery Network exhibition and brings in 15,404 visitors.

September 20, 2008 Cooper Alumni Center hosts first event during Homecoming.

September 20, 2008 Groundbreaking for the Liberal Arts Building.

October 28, 2008 Arkansas Small Business Development Center implements Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center (ASBTDC).

January 14, 2009 Four Arkansas universities created by Act 100 of 1909 launched their centennial celebrations today with a joint public re-enactment and re-signing of their founding legislation at the Rotunda of the State Capitol. The four schools included Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, and the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

February 4, 2009  Ellen Strong, ASU's first female African-American graduate (1964), dies.

February 10, 2009 School Psychology track for degree program receives national approval by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP).

February 26, 2009 University College, Learning Support Services (LSS), announces creation of new department, two new programs, the Learning Support Center (LSC) and Structured Learning Assistance (SLA).

April 1, 2009 Arkansas State University begins celebrating its 100-year anniversary during 2009-2010. The celebration began April 1, 2009, with the commemoration of the university's founding, and will conclude October 3, 2010, marking the Centennial of the first day of classes.

April 17, 2009 ASU receives more than $1.75 million from U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration. The EDA grant goes toward completion of the Arkansas State Biosciences Institute Commercial Innovation Center (ABI-COM) business incubator and is part of the grant funding to assist the economic recovery effort in Arkansas following severe storms, flooding and tornados that occurred in 2008, for regional economic development.

May 11, 2009  Arkansas State University-Jonesboro announces a new English as a Second Language (ESL) Licensure Endorsement program.  ASU-Jonesboro is the only university in the region to offer such a program.

May 29, 2009 The newly renovated Chickasaw Student Services Center is dedicated as the Eugene W. Smith Hall in honor of president emeritus, Dr. Eugene Smith.

September 25, 2009 The Donald W. Reynolds Center for Health Sciences is dedicated at a special ceremony as part of the ASU Centennial Weekend public events.

October 15, 2009 Dedication of the Delta Center For Economic Development (DCED) facility.

October 28, 2009  Mike Medlock, chair of the ASU Board of Trustees, dies. Mr. Medlock received his first appointment in February 2000 and was re-appointed in March 2005.

December 20, 2009 Former administrator, faculty member Dr. Don Wright dies. Dec. 20.  Dr. Wright joined the faculty in 1970 in the Department of Educational Administration and served as the vice president of academic affairs until his retirement in 1997.

December 24, 2009 Professor Emeritus, Dr. C. Calvin Smith, the first African-American faculty member at Arkansas State University, dies.

Next 25 Years (2010)