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Southern Arkansas University will come together to honor over 500 spring 2026 graduates during three undergraduate ceremonies on Friday, May 8, and a graduate ceremony on Saturday, May 9. The ceremonies will be held in the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.<\/p>\n
Friday, May 8 \u2013 Undergraduate Ceremonies Saturday, May 9 \u2013 Graduate Ceremony Each ceremony should last approximately 60\u201390 minutes.\u00a0There will be no guest limits or tickets required for guests to attend the commencement ceremonies. All commencement ceremonies will be streamed live on the\u00a0SAU Facebook page\u00a0<\/a>for those who wish to attend virtually.<\/p>\n Commencement Address \u2013 Friday, May 8 at 10:00 a.m. Bill attended Southern Arkansas University from 1977 to 1980, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration in General Business. While he had the opportunity to return to his family\u2019s business, Bill chose to pursue engineering at the University of Arkansas, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering.<\/p>\n Following graduation, Bill relocated to Dallas, Texas, and in 1992 co-founded Dowdey, Anderson & Associates, Inc. Under his leadership, the firm grew into one of the most respected civil engineering companies in the Dallas\u2013Fort Worth area, serving clients nationwide. After nearly 40 years of success, the firm merged with Pape-Dawson Engineers in 2021.<\/p>\n Bill has remained actively engaged with both Southern Arkansas University and the University of Arkansas, as well as numerous civic and professional organizations. He serves on the SAU Foundation Board of Governors and was inducted into the Arkansas Academy of Civil Engineers in 2016.<\/p>\n Commencement Address \u2013 Friday, May 8 at 2:00 p.m. Jason graduated from Wickes High School in 1990. He credits a small, rural school district and the dedicated teachers and administrators with displaying a strong appreciation for hard work, family, and the value of showing up for your community, as the cornerstones of his success. He played Mulerider basketball as a student at SAU and graduated with a BSE in December 1994. SAU was home for four years and the impact the faculty, coaches, staff, and friends had was positive and is motivating to this day. He began his career as a high school basketball coach in 1995. After more than five years of coaching in local Polk County school districts, he moved to Alma where he coached for four years. In 2004, he returned to Mena High School to coach for four more years.<\/p>\n In 2008, Jason accepted a position at the Union Bank of Mena, Arkansas, as a loan officer and began his career in banking. Union Bank\u2019s headquarters is in Mena and is deeply rooted in each of its communities throughout West Central Arkansas. What began as a career shift quickly became a mission: to help local families, farmers, and businesses secure the resources they needed to succeed.<\/p>\n In 2011, Jason graduated from the Barrett Graduate School of Banking. He has been with Union Bank for 18 years, and for the past 4 years has served as senior lending officer. His primary responsibilities are leading the lending team and ensuring strong, responsible credit practices. Beyond his professional work, Jason and his family also operate a small cattle farm in Wickes. He also volunteers and enjoys coaching Little League sports in the local community.<\/p>\n Commencement Address \u2013 Friday, May 8 at 4:00 p.m. Larry joined Walmart in 2002 as an Executive Protection Manager within the Global Security, Aviation, and Travel Division. Over the years, he advanced through roles of increasing responsibility, leading key initiatives in homeland security, corporate security, executive protection, and global readiness. In 2005, he was named Divisional Director of Asset Protection for Logistics and Transportation, overseeing security, compliance, and safety across more than 50 distribution centers in the western United States.<\/p>\n In 2007, Larry returned to public service as Assistant Federal Security Director with the Transportation Security Administration, supporting both Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport and Fort Smith Regional Airport. He later rejoined Walmart in 2009 and continued to rise through senior leadership roles, including Senior Director of Asset Protection and Senior Director of Global Investigations. In this capacity, he established Walmart\u2019s Investigative Risk and Operational Compliance Center (IROCC), a global center of excellence leveraging advanced analytics to support compliance and security risk management.<\/p>\n Larry was later promoted to Vice President of Global Investigations and ultimately served as Senior Vice President and Chief Global Security Officer. In this role, he led Walmart\u2019s global security strategy, overseeing enterprise protection, threat management, risk intelligence, international security, and crisis response. He is also recognized as the principal visionary behind Walmart\u2019s state-of-the-art Global Security Operations Center, which provides 24\/7 global monitoring and emergency response.<\/p>\n Larry holds a Master of Education with a specialization in Agency Counseling and a Bachelor of Applied Science from SAU. He is also a graduate of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the U.S. Secret Service Training Academy, and the Arkansas Law Enforcement Academy, and has completed executive leadership training at Georgetown University. Larry resides in Bentonville, Arkansas, with his wife, Jennifer, also an SAU graduate, and their daughter, Caroline.<\/p>\n Commencement Address \u2013 Saturday, May 9 at 11:00 a.m. Chris\u2019s dedication to teaching excellence has been recognized at the state and national levels. He was selected as a 2023\u20132024 Arkansas Teacher of the Year Finalist and was also a finalist for the prestigious 2023 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) for Science. He also serves on the executive board of the Arkansas Science Teachers Association and is a graduate of the Arkansas Leadership Academy, Class of Spring 2022.<\/p>\n Chris earned his Bachelor of Science in Education in 1998 and his Master of Secondary Education in 2003 from Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia. In 2021, he completed his Educational Leadership certification, also from SAU. During his time at Southern Arkansas University, he was a member of the Mulerider Football Team and was actively involved in campus life as a fraternity member, Resident Assistant, Hall Director, and the Area Coordinator of Men\u2019s Housing. While attending and working at SAU, Chris met his wife, and the two have now been married for 27 years. She also earned both her bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees from Southern Arkansas University. Together they have four daughters. Two of their daughters also attended and graduated from SAU, earning two bachelor\u2019s degrees and one master\u2019s degree. The Coker family\u2019s connection to Southern Arkansas University continues across generations, including one grandchild who is currently attending SAU.<\/p>\n Chris and his wife are proud grandparents to ten grandchildren and are also blessed with two great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n About SAU:<\/strong> Southern Arkansas University will come together to honor over 500 spring 2026 graduates during three undergraduate ceremonies on Friday, May 8, and a graduate ceremony on Saturday, May 9. The ceremonies will be held in the W.T. Watson Athletic Center. Friday, May 8 \u2013 Undergraduate Ceremonies 8:00 a.m. \u2013 Department of Nursing Pinning Ceremony, Grand… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1482,"featured_media":11844,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[271,97,272,276,265,7753,284,288,143],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11839","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-academics","8":"category-alumni","9":"category-archives","10":"category-community-corner","11":"category-events","12":"category-homepage","13":"category-office-of-student-activities","14":"category-regional-news","15":"category-student-life","16":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1482"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11839"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11848,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11839\/revisions\/11848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n<\/strong>Bill Anderson is a native of Magnolia, Arkansas, whose career reflects a strong foundation of hard work, integrity, and entrepreneurial spirit. Inspired by his father, a local business owner, Bill developed an early appreciation for perseverance and leadership.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Jason Sullivan currently serves as chair of the SAU Board of Trustees. He has served on the Board since 2022. He previously served on the SAU Foundation Board of Governors and credits the past Love and Loyalty Campaign with providing a strong reconnection for him to SAU. He and his wife, Teddi, live in Mena and have three children.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Larry Lundeen has served in a wide range of investigative and security leadership roles across both the public and private sectors for nearly four decades. He began his career in 1988 as Director of Public Safety at Southern Arkansas University. After also serving with the Magnolia Police Department, Larry was selected in 1996 as a Special Agent with the United States Secret Service. He was initially assigned to the Little Rock Field Office and later served at the U.S. Secret Service Headquarters in Washington, D.C., including in the Vice Presidential Protective Division. During this time, he was also selected for temporary assignment to the FBI\u2019s Joint Terrorism Task Force supporting the PENTBOMB and World Trade Center investigations.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Chris Coker has dedicated more than 27 years to education at Camden Fairview High School, where he currently teaches AP Chemistry, AP Physics 1, and Chemistry while also serving as the district\u2019s K\u201312 Science Facilitator. Chris also serves as an adjunct professor for SAU. Throughout his career, he has remained committed to inspiring students through rigorous science instruction, innovative classroom practices, and mentorship both inside and outside the classroom. In addition to his work in the classroom, Chris has coached football and track at Camden Fairview High School for 25 years. He serves as a regional instructor for the Texas Instruments T\u00b3 (Teachers Teaching with Technology) program and is recognized as a Vernier Software & Technology Trendsetter. He also serves as a reader and Table Leader for the College Board AP Chemistry Exam and regularly presents at national, regional, and local conferences on science education.<\/p>\n
\nSAU, located in Magnolia, Arkansas, provides students with a complete college experience in a caring environment of service, innovation, and community. With more than 100 degrees in four distinct colleges and the School of Graduate Studies, SAU initiates new degree programs to fit the needs of career and professional trends of today. As part of this commitment, SAU proudly offers the Next Step Guarantee program, ensuring that students receive the necessary resources, career guidance, and support to transition successfully from college to their chosen careers or graduate studies. To learn more about SAU, visit www.saumag.edu.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"