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Allen Coats Meadors (born May 17, 1947) is an American professor and university administrator.

Meadors has served as Dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Oklahoma and of the College of Health, Social and Public Services at Eastern Washington University, CEO at Penn State Altoona, Chancellor at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and President of the University of Central Arkansas (UCA).

In September 2011, Meadors resigned from UCA and subsequently served as Executive Director of the United Arab Emirates Higher Education Coordination Council and President of St. John International University.

Early life and education

Allen Meadors was born in Van Buren, Arkansas and attended Van Buren Senior High School, from which he graduated in 1965. He enrolled at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville before transferring to the University of Central Arkansas, where he graduated with a Bachelor in Business Administration in 1969. After graduating, he returned to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville to study for an MBA, but again left after one semester to join the United States Air Force.

Meadors subsequently obtained a Master's in Business Administration from the University of Northern Colorado and a Master's in Public Administration from the University of Kansas. He also holds Master's Degrees in Psychology and Human Relations and in Health Services Management from Webster University. Meadors was awarded his PhD in Administration and Education by Southern Illinois University in 1981. He also has an Associate's Degree in Computer Science from Saddleback College, and certificates in Health Services Administration from Trinity University and in Health System Management from MIT.

Academic career

Meadors was discharged from the US Air Force in September 1973. He subsequently started work for Blue Cross Blue Shield in Topeka, Kansas. In 1976, he was appointed assistant director for public health in Kansas City. He subsequently worked as a health consultant, and as an assistant professor at Southern Illinois University, administering degree programmes on military installations. In 1982, he became associate professor and director of the Division of Health Administration at the University of Texas. Meadors served as the executive director of the Northwest Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute between 1984 and 1987. In 1987, Meadors was appointed as a professor and chair of the Department of Health Administration at the University of Oklahoma. Between 1989 and 1990, he was dean of the College of Public Health at Oklahoma.

Meadors subsequently worked as dean of the College of Health, Social and Public Services at Eastern Washington University between 1990 and 1994, after which he served as chief executive at Penn State Altoona from 1994 to 1999. He moved to North Carolina to become the new chancellor at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP) in 1999. The university saw an increase from 214 staff and 2,966 students in 1999 to 424 staff and 6,727 students by 2009. In January 2009, in response to criticism that UNCP (which was founded with a mission to train Native American school teachers) was not doing enough to recruit Native American students, Meadors addressed the Lumbee Tribal Council, outlining a number of initiatives targeting Native American recruits. He reported that the number of Native American students at UNCP had risen from 686 in 1999 to 941 in 2009. In February 2009, Meadors was appointed president of the University of Central Arkansas.

Between 2012 and 2014, Meadors was executive director of the United Arab Emirates Higher Education Coordination Council. He has also served as the president of St. John International University. He was a senior consultant with the Global Leadership Group. He is an advisory board member for Edu Alliance and was a search consultant with Academic Keys Executive Search before moving on to work as a consultant with Academic Career and Executive Search. Meadors has served on the board of trustees of the Southeastern Regional Medical Center, a hospital in Lumberton, North Carolina.

Controversy

In September 2011, it was reported that the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) board had bought out Meadors's contract, accepted his resignation in return, and replaced him with an interim president, Tom Courtway. The board's actions followed a controversy about renovations and expansion of the university president's house. The university campus food service contractor Aramark had offered to contribute $700,000 to the cost of the renovation. Meadors and board chair Scott Roussel reportedly did not inform the board that the deal involved granting Aramark a new service contract. In January 2013, while working in the United Arab Emirates, Meadors pleaded guilty to violating the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act during his time as the UCA president, after he was "accused of urging a vice president to destroy a letter that said the offer would be in exchange for renewing Aramark's contract". Meadors had originally been charged with tampering with a public document, but reached a negotiated plea bargain for the Arkansas FOIA violation. Roussel also resigned in May 2012, but was not charged with any offense.

Honors and awards

Meadors has received awards including an outstanding professional service award from the University of Texas and the Ben Lane Award for outstanding contributions to student affairs at Penn State. He was a senior fellow of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in 2011–12. UNCP has established endowed chairs, the Allen C. Meadors Distinguished Professorship in Mathematics and the Allen C. Meadors Endowed Chair in Computer Science, in his honor.

Meadors was inducted into the UNCP Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022. He is also included in the Van Buren School District Hall of Honor.

Personal life

Meadors and his wife Barbara have two sons.

References

1. ^ Sharp, Elizabeth (July 19, 2009). "Front & center: Allen Coats Meadors". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
2. ^ "Past Presidents". University of Central Arkansas. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
3. ^ "Allen C. Meadors is Named UNCP's Chancellor". University of North Carolina at Pembroke. April 10, 1999. Archived from the original on August 28, 2014. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
4. ^ Gresham, Matt (February 13, 2003). "NSU president candidates offer varied experience". The Houma Courier. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
5. ^ "Meadors roundly applauded". The Robesonian. June 20, 2009. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
6. Garnett, Carla (June 12, 2009). "Successful Outreach Draws From Cross-Section of NIH". NIH Record. National Institutes of Health. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
7. "Meadors defend efforts to lure Indians to UNCP". The Robesonian. January 15, 2009. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
8. ^ Brantley, Max (September 2, 2011). "UCA Board buying out Meadors' contract for $525,000". Arkansas Times. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
9. ^ "Meet the Experts". Enrollment Management Report. doi:10.1002/(ISSN)1945-6263. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
10. "Advisory Council". Edu Alliance. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
11. "Meet our Team". Academic Keys. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
12. "Our Team". Academic Career & Executive Search. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
13. Brantley, Max (September 1, 2011). "UCA president rejects Aramark money UPDATE III". Arkansas Times. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
14. Hale-Shelton, Debra (August 30, 2012). "Meadors charged in UCA food-vendor case". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
15. ^ Sims, Scarlet (August 30, 2012). "Former UCA president charged". Log Cabin Democrat. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
16. "Former UCA president faces tampering charge". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Arkansas Online. August 29, 2012. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
17. "Ex-UCA president pleads guilty to misdemeanor". The Courier. Associated Press. January 14, 2013. Archived from the original on December 2, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
18. Ketchum, Marisa (January 23, 2013). "Meadors pleads guilty to violating Freedom of Information Act". The Echo. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
19. "Mathematics Educator: UNCP readies search for Allen C. Meadors Distinguished Professor". University of North Carolina at Pembroke. December 15, 2009. Archived from the original on November 28, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
20. "Allen C. Meadors Endowed Chair in Computer Science" (PDF). University of North Carolina at Pembroke. December 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
21. "UNCP Athletics Announces 43rd Hall Of Fame Class". UNCP Athletics. July 17, 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
22. "Hall of Honor". Van Buren School District. Retrieved September 19, 2022.

Further reading

• Hale-Shelton, Debra. "For UCA president house, 3 proposals". www.arkansasonline.com. Retrieved 4 December 2016.

• Heads of universities and colleges in the United States
• University of Central Arkansas faculty
• Eastern Washington University faculty
• University of Oklahoma faculty
• Saddleback College alumni
• University of Central Arkansas alumni
• University of Northern Colorado alumni
• University of Kansas alumni
• Webster University alumni
• Southern Illinois University Carbondale alumni
• People from Van Buren, Arkansas
• 1947 births
• Living people