Dr. Pam Carr, Dr. Jim Collins and Vicky Kiehl, who collectively performed more than a century of service on the Arkansas Tech University faculty, have received professor emeritus status from the ATU Board of Trustees.
Requirements for professor emeritus status for faculty members who have retired from Arkansas Tech include 15 or more years of consecutive service and nomination by any member of the university community who holds faculty rank.
Authority to grant emeritus status rests with the Arkansas Tech Board of Trustees upon the recommendation of the president of the university.
Below are bios for Arkansas Tech’s latest professor emeritus honorees as provided by the ATU Office of Academic Affairs.
Dr. Pamela Carr, professor emeritus of accounting
Carr received her Doctor of Philosophy degree in 2001 from Oklahoma State University, her Master of Arts degree from Missouri State University in 1984 and her Bachelor of Science degree from Arkansas Tech in 1977, all in accounting. She earned her Certified Public Accountant licensure in 1981. Before coming to Arkansas Tech, Carr was an instructor of accounting at Drury College from 1984-87. She was employed as a staff accountant with Whitlock, Selim and Keehn from 1980-82. Carr began her service to Arkansas Tech as assistant professor of accounting in 1991. She was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure in 2002. She was elevated to professor in 2009. From 2004-12, Carr was head of the ATU Department of Accounting and Economics. In 2013, she received the Thomas P. Tyler Excellence in Teaching Award from the ATU College of Business. Carr retired in 2019.
Dr. James Collins, professor emeritus of agriculture
Collins received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1982 and his Master of Science degree in 1979, both from Louisiana State University. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1976 from Mississippi State University. All three degrees were in horticulture. Collins came to Arkansas Tech in 1983 as an assistant professor of agriculture with plant science as his specialty. He was promoted to associate professor and tenured in 1988. He was promoted to professor in 1995. Since his retirement in 2017, Collins has taught as an adjunct in the ATU Department of Agriculture while continuing in his volunteer role as executive director and master of ceremonies for the Miss Arkansas Tech University competition.
Vicky Kiehl, professor emeritus of music
Kiehl received her Master of Music degree in piano from North Texas State University in 1974 and her Bachelor of Arts degree in music education from Arkansas Tech in 1967. She taught in the Russellville School District and began teaching part time at Arkansas Tech during the 1967-68 academic year. Kiehl continued part time at ATU until 1979, when she was hired as assistant professor of music. She taught class piano, applied piano and organ. Kiehl received tenure in 1984 and was promoted to associate professor in 1990. While teaching was her primary responsibility, she also assisted ATU students with recitals and juries by accompanying them on the piano. When she retired in 2013, she had been employed at Arkansas Tech for a total of 46 years.
