Dr. David Briscoe, professor of sociology, is being honored as the 2020 Faculty Excellence in Public Service award winner for the UA Little Rock College of Social Sciences and Communication.

“Dr. Briscoe gives his life and his all to this university and to its students,” said Dr. Krista Lewis, chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. “He is very well-loved by his students and is known for his genuine interest in supporting people. It seems that hardly a week passes in which I am not contacted by students, community members, or organizations who wish to reach out just to praise the service and care that Dr. Briscoe has extended to them.”

Briscoe has been serving the UA Little Rock community for almost three decades. After earning undergraduate (‘80) and graduate (85′) degrees from UA Little Rock and a Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (’93), Briscoe returned home to UA Little Rock where he has been teaching since 1992.

During that time, Briscoe has been awarded 55 honors, earned three distinguished certificates, and been named Distinguished Teaching Fellow for the UA Little Rock Academy of Teaching and Learning Excellence. He has received the Graduate and Retention Advocate Award three times.

Briscoe is known to enthusiastically advocate for students with disabilities and was voted among the Best of the Best Professors three times by the UA Little Rock student body. He serves on the National Phi Kappa Phi Dissertation Selection Committee, the Diversity Council, the Athletics Committee, and the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity.

“University staff and colleagues across campus are quick to comment on Dr. Briscoe’s willingness to serve students,” said Regina Carter, UA Little Rock chief of police.

Briscoe is also well-known and admired in his role as a volunteer for the Boy Scouts. As a member of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America, Briscoe became the inaugural national chairman of Learning for Life, an academic and character development program serving more than 1.7 millions students.

“David Briscoe is an outstanding leader to the Quapaw Area Council and the Boy Scouts of America,” said Marcal Young, scout executive. “His leadership has inspired others to serve and help change lives in thousands of youth in our program. Dr. Briscoe has been instrumental in building a vibrant Boy Scouting program in Arkansas and across the nation.”

Lewis noted that for Dr. Briscoe, the lines between teaching, mentoring, and service to students, the university, and community are porous, and that this is his greatest strength.

“Everything that he does is service, given honestly and fully,” Lewis said.