Alumni Updates
Ellis Arnold ('82) was named President of Hendrix College.
Heather Larkin ('98) was named one of Arkansas’ Top Influencers for 2020 by Arkansas Money & Politics.
Jake Goheen ('99) passed away on December 18, 2019. A memorial service will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7, 2020, at Smith Benton Funeral Home (322 N. Market St, Benton, AR).
Bryce Brewer ('00) joined the Rainwater Holt & Sexton litigation team in Little Rock.
Kevin Ryan ('01) was named the Associate Dean for Student and Alumni Affairs at UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health and was also selected as a speaker at the February TEDx conference to be held at UAMS.
Bonnie Johnson ('05) joined Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon & Galchus, P.C. as Counsel.
Chris Rippy ('11) and Ashley Stepps ('12) formed Rippy, Stepps & Associates Estate Planning & Elder Law Attorneys.
JB Smiley Jr. ('15) was awarded the Harold Ford Sr. Award of Integrity: Persistence in Politics at the 2020 Black Millennial Political Tennessee Regional Convention.
Lance Black ('16) was promoted to junior bank examiner by the Arkansas State Bank Department.
Walter Kroptavich ('16) married Theresa Lloyd on December 6, 2019.
Nicholas Williams ('17) joined Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon & Galchus, P.C. as an Associate Attorney.
Robert Deen ('18) was hired by the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership as the Project Coordinator for the Rural Response to the Opioid Epidemic grant.
Kevin Watts ('18) and wife Emily Watts welcomed baby Charlotte Deree Watts on January 20, 2020.
Andrew Winters ('18) joined the Rainwater Holt & Sexton litigation team in Little Rock.
Submit your alumni news, notes, and promotions to
Class Notes.