CONWAY, Ark. (May 23, 2014) – The Hendrix College Board of Trustees recently named W. Ellis Arnold III as Senior Executive Vice President, Dean of Advancement and General Counsel, according to Chair of the Hendrix Board of Trustees, David Knight
Arnold had been serving as Acting President of the College since J. Timothy Cloyd stepped down in February 2013. Prior to that, Arnold had served since 2008 as Executive Vice President, Dean of Advancement and as the College’s General Counsel.
“Ellis Arnold has provided rock-solid leadership as Acting President during the past year as the College searched for its 11th president,” Knight said. “Not only did he perform superbly in this role, he did it while he continued to maintain
oversight of our Advancement division and serve as Hendrix’s General Counsel. Our board of trustees, faculty and staff are profoundly grateful to Ellis for taking on these additional responsibilities and dispensing the duties required in each of these
roles. Our Board of Trustees unanimously voted to recognize his contributions by naming him Senior Executive Vice President.”
Incoming President William M. Tsutsui also praised Arnold. “Ellis has unselfishly served the College in so many ways, it’s hard to highlight and talk about only one,” Tsutsui said. “I can tell you that, in addition to his real job, he has done an extraordinary
job in creating a smooth transition for me as I prepare to step into the president’s role at Hendrix. For that, I’ll always be grateful.”
Arnold graduated from Hendrix in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He attended law school at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review. After receiving his juris doctorate,
Arnold practiced law from 1982 to 1990 in Little Rock, where he was a founding partner at Arnold, Lax, and Vaughan (now Lax, Vaughan, Fortson and McKenzie).
In 1990, Arnold was approached by then-President Dr. Joe B. Hatcher to serve as Vice President for Development and College Relations. In this role, Arnold was responsible for church relations, communications, fundraising, and marketing. He also served
as General Counsel.
In November 1996, Arnold was named President of Lambuth University in Jackson, Tenn. He served as President and Head of School of Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Ark., from 2004 until 2008, when he returned to Hendrix. In 2010, Arnold served as Acting
President for nine months.
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.