Hendrix College will honor longtime educator Ronnie D. Williams with an honorary doctorate of humane letters during the Conway college’s May 11 commencement ceremony.
Williams is a graduate of Hendrix and Arkansas State University, a longtime administrator at the University of Central Arkansas until his 2021 retirement and a native of Menifee in Faulkner County. He is also the author of “Markham Street,” his 2022 book that “chronicles his family’s quest for justice surrounding the death of his brother, Marvin Williams, who died in police custody in 1960,” Hendrix said in a news release.
“We are excited to honor Ronnie Williams for his leadership in higher education and commitment to community service,” Hendrix College President Karen Petersen said.
While at UCA, Williams’ many roles included vice president of student services, chief diversity officer, director of minority affairs, assistant to the president and assistant dean of students.
The UCA Board of Trustees has renamed the school’s campus center the Ronnie Williams Student Center and announced an endowed scholarship in his name.
“Active in civic life and community leadership, Williams has chaired the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce and the Arkansas Educational Television Commission; and served on the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct and the boards of the Arkansas Community Foundation and the Faulkner County Shelter for Abused and Battered Women,” Hendrix said in its release. “In 2018, he received the Guy W. Murphy Distinguished Service Award, the highest recognition from the Conway Area Chamber presented yearly to a person who has demonstrated special service to the community.”
