Jennifer Bouldin Elevated to Dean of Sciences and Mathematics
JONESBORO – Dr. Jennifer Bouldin becomes the permanent dean of the College of Sciences and Mathematics effective immediately, Arkansas State University Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Calvin White Jr. announced this week.
She has been serving as the interim dean for one of the university’s largest colleges since Sept. 1, 2022.
“Dr. Bouldin has been an outstanding leader for the College of Sciences and Mathematics over the past year, and among our deans has been a great colleague to work with,” White said. “In addition to leading her own college, Dean Bouldin has been instrumental in our collaborative effort to launch the A-State College of Veterinary Medicine.”
Along with A-State’s dean of agriculture, Dr. Mickey LaTour, and the university’s founding dean for veterinary medicine, Dr. Glen Hoffsis, Bouldin has worked to create the inaugural curriculum and identify areas of campus that could host initial courses for the CVM project.
A native of nearby Greene County, Bouldin joined A-State in 2002 as a member of the staff at the Ecotoxicology Research Facility, and was named the director of the “Eco-Tox” unit four years later. Named associate professor in 2012 then full professor in 2016, Bouldin was named the associate dean of the college in 2021.
“I’m honored to be selected by Chancellor Shields and Provost White as the permanent dean,” Bouldin said. “With the CVM program moving full speed ahead, the opportunities for new collaborative research and teaching will build bridges among the CVM, College of Sciences and Mathematics, and College of Agriculture. I’m looking forward to working more with our own vet program as well as closer ties with our on-campus NYIT medical school.”
When the university completes the launch of its veterinary college, A-State will become the only campus in Arkansas that is home to a medical college, vet college, major biological research facility, and a robust graduate program. Combined with an international campus, A-State’s unique profile provides advantages for students and faculty.
“As someone who grew up in Northeast Arkansas, what we can offer right here in Jonesboro for our students and the professional collaboration and research opportunities for our faculty, there is no place I’d rather be,” Bouldin said.
A specialist in the area of aquatic toxicology and the use of laboratory test organisms to predict the effects of agricultural runoff to downstream ecosystems, Bouldin’s research is of particular interest across the region as it relates to the mitigation of agricultural runoff within receiving structures, specifically vegetated ditches and constructed wetlands.
