The UA Little Rock College of Business, Health, and Human Services (CBHSS) has selected Drs. Bennie Prince, John Hendon, and David Gilliam as its 2021 Faculty Excellence Winners. 

UA Little Rock annually celebrates the achievements of the top professors of the year who are making a difference in the community through their contributions in teaching, research and creative works, and public service. This is the highest honor UA Little Rock awards its faculty members.

Created in 1989, the Faculty Excellence Awards have provided a way to recognize the great work of UA Little Rock faculty for the past 32 years and is made possible through contributions by the Office of the Chancellor, the Office of the Provost, the UA Little Rock Chancellor’s Circle, the Bailey Foundation, and UMR. 

Prince, Hendon, and Gilliam will compete for the university-wide Faculty Excellence Awards, which will be announced April 15.

Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching – Bennie Prince, assistant professor in the School of Counseling, Human Performance, and Rehabilitation

Having taught at UA Little Rock for 33 years, Prince advises around 250 students in two undergraduate and three minor programs as the health human performance undergraduate coordinator.

“She is a dedicated program coordinator and faculty member that always shows great initiative and diligence in developing her skills in teaching and helping others develop their skills in teaching,” said Rusty Wright, advanced instructor in the School of Counseling, Human Performance, and Rehabilitation. “She has a genuine interest in her personal work, working with faculty, and our students.”

In UA Little Rock’s Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence, Prince served as the first Enhanced Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellow. She helped faculty members develop and expand internship programs at UA Little Rock. This led to the establishment of a grant program to support faculty developing internship programs in their departments.

“Her work supporting faculty development of internship programs has been very successful,” said Dr. Michael DeAngelis, associate professor of geology and ATLE co-director. “Dr. Rene Shroat-Lewis, the internship coordinator in my department and a grant awardee, was able to use these grant funds to bring together many local stakeholders for a meeting about the internship program. This meeting resulted in several new and continuing internship opportunities for our students.” 

Prince works with faculty members to investigate best practices of blended learning to support the best of face-to-face and online learning.

“Dr. Prince’s online teaching, course design, and role as a community health advocate are known throughout Arkansas and the country,” said Dr. Jennifer Holtz, director of the School of Counseling, Human Performance, and Rehabilitation. “She has been active as a community, state, and national presenter of research in physical and education teaching.”

Faculty Excellence Award in Public Service – John Hendon, senior instructor of management

A seven-time entrepreneur and former operations director for a $60-million company, Hendon has been teaching at UA Little Rock since 1997.

In the local HR community, Hendon volunteers as a resume reviewer during job fairs held by the Central Arkansas Human Resource Association and often serves as a guest speaker with the Human Resource Management Association and the UA Little Rock Human Resource Society.

In the Society for Human Resource Management, Hendon works with a team of members who actively work with legislators to provide information on how proposed laws and regulations affect organizations’ ability to operate. The most recent conversation in June 2020 dealt with how a proposed change to the Optional Practical Training by the Trump administration would affect international students completing college degrees.

Hendon has been a member of the Small Business Institute (SBI) since 2006 and has served as vice president of programs, president-elect, and president. He mentors new members and officers and holds the title of Small Business Institute Fellow. This is the highest honor that SBI awards its members. It is granted to those who have significant and noteworthy accomplishments in teaching, research, and service involving small business.

“One of John’s major accomplishments is that he has created a link between traditional large organization HR research and small business/entrepreneurial research,” said Joe Felan, associate professor of management.

At UA Little Rock, Hendon served until recently on the Institutional Effectiveness Committee and the planning and finance and budget committees for Faculty Senate.

“As the chair of IEC, I was gratified to be able to count on Mr. Hendon’s deep business background and insights into effectiveness and budget at the unit and university levels, and his knowledge and perspectives were well-regarded by other committee members,” said Dr. Erin Finzer, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs. “Mr. Hendon has played a significant role in ensuring the future health and sustainability of Little Rock’s university.”

Faculty Excellence Award in Research – David Gilliam, associate professor of marketing

Gilliam’s research focuses on creating proper definitions for constructs in marketing and the exploration of managerially actionable aspects of sales and services. Many of Gilliam’s published articles have focused on narratives and storytelling in marketing.   

“The exploration of managerially actionable aspects of sales and services animates many of my articles,” Gilliam said. “The research focuses on issues in personality, social norms, work design, servicescape design, branding, services and healthcare. The resulting publications illuminate levers that managers can use to improve cooperation among coworkers, frontline employee motivation, booth effectiveness at trade shows, brand narratives, advertisements, customer experience, retail sales, and adherence to healthcare advice.”

Gilliam is the recipient of several awards for his research and contribution to the field of marketing. The trade journal, “Industrial Marketing Management,” which focuses on research for scholars and practitioners of marketing recognized him as an outstanding reviewer. At UA Little Rock, Gilliam received the 2019 Harper W. Boyd Professor of Excellence award in 2019 as well as the 2018 Faculty Excellence Award in Research from the College of Business.