Southern Arkansas University is scheduled to recognize 36 graduate students and 136 undergraduates during two Fall Commencement ceremonies at 5 and 7 p.m. on Friday, December 12, 2014.
Both ceremonies will take place in the gymnasium at the W.T. Watson Center. The 5 p.m. graduation will include students from the School of Graduate Studies, the College of Business and the College of Science and Engineering. The 7 p.m. ceremony will feature students from the College of Education and the College of Liberal and Performing Arts.
SAU Professor of History and 2014 Honor Professor Dr. Ben Johnson will provide both commencement addresses. Johnson became Arkansas’ first endowed professor for Arkansas studies in 2013 thanks to the John G. Ragsdale, Jr. and Dora J. Ragsdale Endowed Professorship.
Johnson earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Arkansas, and has taught in higher education for more than 33 years. He served as Dean of the College of Liberal and Performing Arts at SAU from 2007 to 2011 and was promoted to professor of history in 2010. In addition to the book he authored in 2000, he has written two additional books on Arkansas history. He and his wife, Sherrel Johnson, reside in El Dorado, Ark.
