Artist rendering of the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center created by AMR Architects prior to construction of the facility.
Arkansas Tech University will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center with a reception on Wednesday, October 30th.
The event begins at 3 p.m. in the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center, Room 300, 305 West Q Street, Russellville. We will provide light snacks. The reception will be open to the public.
Scheduled speakers include Dr. Robert C. Brown, who served as ATU president from 1993 to 2014; Maj. Gen. Bill Harmon served as ATU’s vice president for technology during the planning and opening of the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center. Jayne Jones was ATU vice president for administration and finance when the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center was built as part of her 47-year career at Arkansas Tech University.
Eric Rector, ATU Libraries Director, and Steve Milligan, Director of ATU Information Services and Chief Information Officer, would like to thank ATU Library staff and ATU Information Services for their efforts to maintain and maximize available resources. Recognizes past and present staff of the System Bureau. Located at the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center.
The story of the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center began on July 2, 1996, when the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation announced a $13 million gift for the building’s construction. This remains the largest single individual gift ever made in support of Arkansas Tech University. .
The structure’s namesake began in 1925 in the Abbott area of Scott County. Pendergraft was a World War II veteran. His 1948 graduation from Arkansas Tech University was made possible by the GI Bill.
Pendergraft spent 45 years at the company later known as Donley Media Group. He started as an advertising staff member for the Southwest Times-Record newspaper in Fort Smith and worked his way up to executive vice president and chief operating officer of Donley Media Group. At the time, Donley owned more than 50 newspapers in the United States, including five in Arkansas.
A three-time recipient of the Arkansas Press Association’s Man of the Year Award, Mr. Pendergraft has dedicated his time to the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, Fort Smith United Way and the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce. Ta.
Pendergraft was inducted into the ATU Hall of Fame in 1981.
He was among a crowd of approximately 250 people who attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ross Pendergraft Library Technology Center in April 1997. Pendergraft died a year later at the age of 72.
The three-story, 91,000-square-foot library and technology center opened in the summer of 1999 and was officially dedicated on October 30, 1999. Speakers at the dedication included Brown, who serves as ATU president. Neil Pendergraft, son of Ross Pendergraft. Mr. Fred W. Smith, Chairman of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation;
Brown told those gathered at the 1999 dedication that the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center would “propel Arkansas Tech University into the next millennium for 25 years.”
“Every time we teach in this building… Every time we learn in this building… Every time we recruit a new student… Every time we recruit a new faculty colleague… Every time we promote this institution… ,” Brown said at the building’s dedication.
Pendergraft’s contemporary in the newspaper business, Roy Ockert, editor of the Courier newspaper in Russellville in 1999, wrote an editorial that was published the day after the dedication of the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center.
“I’m sure Ross Pendergraft still smiles when he sees how the building that bears his name impacts the academic community at Arkansas Tech University every day,” Ockert said. I’m writing.
For more information about the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center, visit https://library.atu.edu.
