CONWAY, Ark. (January 9, 2014) – Hendrix
politics professor Dr. Jay Barth received the Diane Blair Award from the
Southern Political Science Association this week at the association’s annual
meeting in New Orleans, La.
The award is presented biennially to a
political scientist who has played an outstanding role in politics and/or
government during their career at the local, state, national or international
level.
The award honors the memory of Diane Blair
by emphasizing the importance of political scientists applying
their professional skills and learning as she did.
Blair, a professor at University of Arkansas
from 1968 to 1997, worked as a member of the Electoral College, board chair of
the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, Chair of the Corporation for
Public Broadcasting, and a senior advisor, researcher, and chronicler of the
successful Clinton-Gore presidential campaign in 1992.
Barth, who joined the Hendrix faculty 20 years
ago, is the M.E. and Ima Graves Peace Distinguished Professor of Politics and
director of civic engagement projects at Hendrix.
In addition to his teaching , scholarly work,
and leadership roles in a variety of nonprofit organizations, Barth is a member
of the Arkansas State Board of Education, served on the Arkansas Non-Legislative Commission on the
Study of Landlord-Tenant Laws in 2012, and was a member of Governor Mike
Beebe’s Task Force on Best Practices for After-School and Summer
Programs. He has also been engaged in electoral politics, including an
unsuccessful race for the Arkansas State Senate in 2010 and service as a
delegate to the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
The recognition is particularly meaningful to Barth, who co-authored
the second edition of Arkansas Politics and Government: Do the People Rule?,
published by the University of Nebraska Press in 2005, with Blair.
“This is a particular honor for me because Diane Blair was
a co-author, a friend, and a mentor to me,” he said. “In particular, she served
as a role model for how political scientists can engage in public service in a
manner that maintains the objectivity of a scholar yet brings back to the
classroom lessons about politics and policymaking that can only be learned
through engagement with that process.”
Founded in
1876, Hendrix College is a national leader in engaged liberal arts and sciences
education. For the sixth consecutive year, Hendrix was named one of the
country’s “Up and Coming” liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. Hendrix
is featured in the latest edition of Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools
That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges, as well as the 2014 Princeton Review’s The Best 378 Colleges, Forbes magazine's
list of America's Top Colleges, and
the 2014 Fiske Guide to Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist
Church since 1884. For
more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.