Breaking News

Arkansas Tech President Robin Bowen Was Fired While She Was on Medical Leave

The board of trustees of Arkansas Tech University voted unanimously during a recent special meeting to terminate the employment of Robin E. Bowen, president of the university. Dr. Bowen has been on medical leave since July 7 and is recovering from surgery.

“The board is grateful for the services Dr. Bowen has provided to Arkansas Tech during her tenure,” said Jim Smith of Fayetteville, chairman of the board of trustees at Atkansas Tech. “We do not take this action lightly and appreciate all she has done as president at Arkansas Tech.”

Dr. Bowen became the twelfth president of Arkansas Tech University in Russellville in July 2014. She was not only the institution’s first woman president but also was the first woman to lead any state-operated four-year university in the state of Arkansas.

Earlier in her career Dr. Bowen was appointed vice president for academic affairs at Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts in 2011. In July 2013 she was promoted to executive vice president and provost at Fitchburg State. Previously, Dr. Bowen held administrative posts at Donnelly College in Kansas City, Kansas, Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, and Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri.

A native of Carl Junction, Missouri, Dr. Bowen is a graduate of the University of Kansas, where she majored in occupational therapy. She earned a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from the University of Arkansas and a doctorate in higher education administration from Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

8 COMMENTS

  2. why was she terminated?she was on medical leave.the 12th president in 9 yrs,makes me thing something wrong with the board of trustees

  3. That’s what medical leave is for. Protect us from our absences. It sounds more of a bias situation in some sense. It should be further reviewed before actions are taken.

    • Has nothing to do with being a liberal or being a conservative. It’s a violation of FMLA law which is a federal law..not an Arkansas law. If she has proper documentation for being on medical leave then the college is at fault.

  6. FMLA is good for only 12 weeks per year. Businesses do not have to hold your position. They have the option of repositioning you.
    After 12 weeks they can terminate your job.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles

Latest News

Jennifer L. Burris Named President of Buffalo State University

0
Dr. Burris has served as provost of Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina for the past four years. She is slated to become the next president of SUNY's Buffalo State University on July 1.

Lisa Thompson Named President of Union Theological Seminary

0
Dr. Thompson's appointment marks a return to Union Theological Seminary, where she previously taught for three years. Most recently, she was the Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair of Black Homiletics & Liturgics at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Five Women Selected to Lead Academic Professional Organizations

0
Julie Sanford of the University of Alabama, Eileen Boris of the University of California, Santa Barbara, Itohan Osayimwese of Brown University, Jane Grant-Kels of the University of Connecticut, and Rani Sullivan of Mississippi State University have been appointed to leadership positions with professional organizations in their academic fields of study.

Sylvia Torti Appointed President of Westminster University in Salt Lake City

0
For the past two years, Dr. Torti has served as president of the College of the Atlantic in Maine. Earlier, she was dean of the Honors College at the University of Utah.

Staci Martin Named Sole Finalist for Presidency of Kilgore College in Texas

0
Dr. Martin has led Kilgore College on an interim basis since November 2025. She has been an administrator with the community college for the past 25 years.

Latest Job Listings

Research Assistant Professor, Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics

0
The selected candidate should have expertise and experience in theoretical models in labor and public economics as well as in microeconometrics and programming.

Director, School of Music

0
The University of Arizona School of Music seeks a visionary and collaborative Director to lead its comprehensive music program through a time of opportunity and transformation.

Assistant Professor, Clinician Educator track, in the Division of Genomic Diagnostics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)

0
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania seek candidates for an Assistant Professor position in the non-tenure clinician educator track.