William M. Tsutsui
President, 2014-2019
Dr. William M. “Bill” Tsutsui became Hendrix College’s 11th president in 2014 and served through 2019. Tsutsui stressed creating greater accessibility
and affordability, diversity and inclusion initiatives, a commitment to the
core values of a residential liberal arts education, and connecting with the
College’s United Methodist and Arkansas heritage. His tenure included two major
capital projects: construction of the David and Mary Ann Dawkins Welcome Center
and the Carolyn L. and David B. Miller Creative Quad.
Read more about President
Tsutsui
J. Timothy Cloyd
President, 2001-2013
Dr. J. Timothy Cloyd became the 10th presid
ent of Hendrix College in 2001
and served until 2013. During Dr. Cloyd's presidency, Hendrix inaugurated
Your Hendrix Odyssey: Engaging in Active Learning, a nationally recognized
engaged learning initiative. Hendrix successfully completed a $100 million comprehensive
campaign to increase student financial assistance, to endow Odyssey, and to
complete capital projects, including the new Student Life and Technology Center
and Wellness and Athletics Center.
Read more about President Cloyd
Ann H. Die
President, 1992-2001
As the president of Hendrix College from 1992-2001, Dr. Ann H. Die raised
the national stature of Hendrix through her involvement in numerous national
organizations, including the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, the Executive
Committee of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the National Association
of Schools and Colleges of the United Methodist Church and the University Senate
of the United Methodist Church. During her tenure, Hendrix was awarded a Phi
Beta Kappa chapter and completed the renovation of John H. Reynolds Hall, adding
Acxiom Hall to become the Charles D. Morgan Center for Physical Sciences.
Read more about President Die
Joe B. Hatcher
President, 1981-1991
The late Dr. Joe B. Hatcher served as President of Hendrix from 1981 until
1991. Hendrix made many great strides during Hatcher's tenure, including the
renovation of Greene Chapel, Martin, Galloway, Couch and Raney Halls, and Staples
Auditorium. Following the 1982 fire that destroyed the College's administration
building, Hatcher led the effort to build Fausett Hall. He led Hendrix through
a successful campaign of nearly $17 million, which concluded in 1989, and helped
launch the campaign to build and endow the college's current library. During
Hatcher's tenure, Hendrix transitioned from the National Association of Intercollegiate
Athletics to the non-scholarship NCAA Division III. In 1987, the Carnegie Foundation
re-classified Hendrix as a Liberal Arts 1 institution, one of the most important
events during Hatcher's presidency.
Read more about President Hatcher
Roy B. Shilling Jr.
President, 1969-1981
Dr. Roy Shilling was the first president since A.C. Millar in 1887 who had
no previous connection with Hendrix. Under his leadership, cultural and intellectual
life expanded with special academic programs such as the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation
Programs in Literature and Language and the Marshall T. Steel Center for the
Study of Religion and Philosophy. Three new buildings were completed and the
market values of both the endowment and the physical plant increased during
Dr. Shilling's tenure. Dr. Shilling resigned to become president of Southwestern
University in Georgetown, Texas, where he previously served as executive vice
president.
Read more about President Shilling
Marshall T. Steel
President, 1958-1969
A 1927 Hendrix graduate and United Methodist minister, Dr. Marshall T. Steel
brought substantial changes to the institution during his tenure. More new buildings
were constructed than at any comparable time, varsity football and compulsory
chapel were discontinued and the rules of dress and conduct were relaxed. The
Marshall T. Steel Center for the Study of Religion and Philosophy continues
his legacy of leadership by promoting the study of religion and philosophy on
the Hendrix campus. Prior to his Hendrix presidency, Rev. Steel served Highland
Park Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas, for 22 years.
Read more about President Steel
Matt L. Ellis
President, 1945-1958
Under Dr. Ellis, Hendrix experienced a rise in attendance as returning World
War II veterans enrolled in great numbers, added several important buildings
to the campus, launched a revived general education program and established
a closer relationship between Hendrix and the United Methodist Church of Arkansas.
Prior to being named President of Hendrix in 1945, Ellis was President of Henderson
State Teachers College as president, a position he accepted after being a philosophy
professor and library teacher at Hendrix.
Read more about President Ellis
John Hugh Reynolds
President, 1913-1945
An 1893 Hendrix graduate, Reynolds was the first non-clergyman to serve as
President. In 1897, he joined the history and political science department as
a professor before continuing his teaching career at the University of Arkansas
in 1902, where he was head of the history and political science department.
Over the next decade, he developed a reputation as one of the state's most active
scholars. At his retirement after thirty-two years of leadership, Reynolds left
a legacy of new buildings, increased endowment, outstanding faculty members
and graduates.
Read more about President Reynolds
Stonewall Anderson
President, 1902-1910
A 1900 Hendrix graduate, Stonewall Anderson was the first alumnus of Hendrix
to become president of the institution. He believed in the mission of Christian
education and devoted his tenure to the promotion of higher standards of scholarship.
After serving as a tutor for the college in 1890-91, Anderson temporarily abandoned
his studies to fill several pulpits for the Methodist Church, South, in Arkansas.
When Anderson returned to Conway as a pastor, he resumed his college work and
received his degree in 1900. He also served as presiding elder of the Church's
Clarksville, Fort Smith and Fayetteville districts. He was serving as a member
of the Hendrix Board of Trustees when he was elected president of the college
in 1902.
Read more about President Anderson
Alexander C. Millar
President, 1887-1902 and 1910-1913
Millar was only 26 when he assumed the presidency of Central Collegiate Institute.
In 1888, Millar made an extensive tour of eastern colleges and universities
in an effort to broaden his conception of the purpose of higher education by
exchanging ideas with professors and presidents. From 1887 to 1890, he reorganized
the entire curriculum, increased the faculty, purchased needed books and equipment
and raised the requirements for both admission and graduation. Millar was also
instrumental in the relocation of the college to its present site in Conway,
Arkansas. Under Millar's tenure, CCI/Hendrix College came to represent the typical
American small liberal arts college.
Read more about President Millar
Isham L. Burrow
President, 1876-1887
Shaped by frontier individualism, Burrow set out to build a Christian institution
of higher learning in western Arkansas virtually by himself. He selected a location
25 miles west of Clarksville and five miles east of Ozark in the small community
of Altus. In 1875, he acquired 320 acres of land and began to build Central
Institute which was the foundation of the modern day Hendrix College. He served
as president of the college until 1887 and continued to be involved with the
institution as its financial agent until 1889.
Read more about President Burrow