Ouachita Stories

Hamilton and Kirby in their lab at Ouachita

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Ouachita's Hamilton, Kirby recognized for biomedical research

May 20, 2026

A Ouachita Baptist University professor and student have earned state and national recognition for their research. Dr. Sharon Hamilton, associate chemistry professor and holder of the E.A. Provine Chair of Chemistry in Ouachita’s J.D. Patterson School of Natural, has been named one of 12 inaugural recipients of the Arkansas Research Alliance’s Emerging Research Leaders program. Hamilton’s selection follows national attention this spring for work conducted in the university’s lab. In March, the American Chemical Society spotlighted research by Mieya Kirby, a senior biomedical sciences major from Fort Worth, Texas, ahead of her presentation at the society’s spring meeting in Atlanta. Kirby is developing dissolvable surgical stitches engineered to deliver anti-inflammatory medication directly to a wound.

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Ouachita names students to Spring 2026 President's List

May 18, 2026

Ouachita Baptist University has named 474 students to its President’s List for the Spring 2026 semester.

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Ouachita names students to Spring 2026 Dean's List

May 18, 2026

Ouachita Baptist University has named 399 students to its Dean’s List for the Spring 2026 semester.

Ouachita graduates, faculty and families gather on Cone-Bottoms lawn for Spring Commencement

May 15, 2026

Ouachita's nursing program earns renewed accreditation from ACEN

May 12, 2026

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The Signal Student Newspaper

OUACHITA CIRCLE: FALL // WINTER 2025

The alumni magazine of Ouachita Baptist University

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Ouachita has faced high times and low times. Years of strength and years of struggle. Through all these seasons — institutional and individual — one certainty remains: God's faithfulness.

The Why Behind Our Traditions

While we often want to hold on to the comfort of traditions, I think it’s important to ask why they were important to us. What about the behavior do we long to preserve? I often remind students to think beyond the behavior of a tradition and consider the belief behind it. What is it about the tradition that is important? Often, the importance is found in the why.

Staff Profile: Sonny Jackson

One member of the Ouachita family was Sonny Jackson. Once a professional middleweight boxer in the Pacific Northwest, Sonny wasn't a Ouachita graduate. But he was very much part of the family as a member and later the head of Ouachita's grounds crew.

Staff Profile: Rosemary Chu

When I give the newly arrived freshmen a taste of Ouachita history before classes start each fall, I tell the inspirational story of Rosemary Chu. What Chu had was the investment she had made in Ouachita. And Ouachita invested in her.

Faculty Profile: Phil Rice

What an honor it is to share a few words about a man who impacted my life so profoundly. As a good Baptist, I thought I would arrange my thoughts around three alliterative points: paper, people and purpose.

Ken Sandifer (left) with two students conducting field research on poisened fish. Photo from the 1965 Ouachitonian yearbook.

Faculty Profile: Kenneth Sandifer

Tim Knight shares about his professor and colleague, Kenneth Sandifer, professor emeritus of biology at Ouachita.

Faculty Profile: Bill Downs

Melinda Mayo reflects on her professor, Bill Downs, professor emeritus of mass communications, who served Ouachita for 41 years.

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