Dr. Joe Felan, associate professor of management, is being honored as the 2020 Faculty Excellence in Public Service award winner for the UA Little Rock College of Business.

“Dr. Felan’s service to the community and his profession have been exemplary,” said Roger Dorsey, associate professor of accounting. “In particular, his work with Junior Achievement of Arkansas, the Little Rock Diamond Foundation, the Arkansas College Teachers of Business and Economics, the Venture Center, and the Waters Edge Neighborhood Association has been distinguished and is a model for UA Little Rock faculty.”

Since joining UA Little Rock faculty in 2002, Felan has received two service awards and been named Who’s Who Among American Teachers. Felan has served on nine education-related committees and on six professional boards.

The focus of Felan’s volunteer activity is on the education of young people. He has served with Junior Achievement of Arkansas since 2005 on its State Board of Directors, as chair of several board committees, and as a classroom volunteer. Thanks in part to Felan’s fundraising and leadership, Junior Achievement of Arkansas recently offered nearly 600 workforce readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship classes around the state to more than 13,000 students.

“Dr. Joe Felan has always shown great passion for our organization, mission, and students,” said Tonya Villines, president of Junior Achievement of Arkansas. “Under his leadership, our organization has seen amazing growth both financially and geographically. All of this is due to Dr. Joe Felan’s dedication, commitment, and leadership.”

Felan’s passion for teaching workforce readiness and financial literacy recently extended to a new partnership with James Bobo, Felan’s former Executive MBA student and president of the UA Little Rock Alumni Board of Directors. Bobo has founded the Little Rock Diamond Foundation, a nonprofit with a compassionate aim of making a positive difference in the lives of underserved youth in central Arkansas.

“Since I started the Little Rock Diamond Foundation, Joe has been behind us 100 percent,” said Bobo. He stepped right in with great advice on moving our programs forward. He also volunteered to conduct a class for a group of young people ages 13-17, who participated in our ‘Huddle Up!’ program. The kids fell in love with Joe and had an awesome learning experience in financial management from Joe’s teaching technique.”

In 2017, Felan co-founded “T3” (The Think Tank) with Dr. Joe Bell, associate professor of management, to facilitate discussion among distinguished business leaders and educators about a wide range of topics concerning the community, region, state, and world. T3 discussions at the Venture Center have considered issues such as employment opportunities, entrepreneurship and startups, health care, and community relations.

Felan received a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina, and M.B.A. and B.B.A. degrees from Baylor University.