Charles Blanchard of Russellville, Michael Fox of Parkdale, Ore., and Chaun Harper of Dallas, Texas, have been selected for the highest honor Arkansas Tech University may bestow upon an individual.
They will be inducted into the ATU Hall of Distinction during spring 2023 commencement at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 6.
Blanchard will enter under the Distinguished Service category, while Fox and Harper will be inducted under the Distinguished Alumnus category.
Charles Blanchard
A member of the ATU Board of Trustees from 2009-19, Blanchard was chairman of the board in 2013 and 2018. During his time as a trustee, enrollment at Arkansas Tech increased by 61.4 percent and the university conferred more than 18,500 degrees and other academic credentials. ATU constructed eight major facilities on its Russellville and Ozark campuses, renovated seven major facilities and completed two facility additions during Blanchard’s tenure, which also saw the adoption of a new strategic plan, campus master plan, mission statement and vision statement for ATU.
In addition to more than 40 years of support for ATU as a Russellville resident and long-time member of the local banking community, Blanchard has also served on the Arkansas Tech University Foundation Board of Directors and was chairman of the ATU Foundation board’s finance committee. He is past chair of the Russellville Area Economic Development Alliance, Russellville Chamber of Commerce and the Arkansas Bankers Association. He was interim director of development at ATU for a brief period between banking stints in Russellville.
Michael Fox
A 1974 graduate of Arkansas Tech, Fox had a 45-year career with Bechtel Corporation, one of the largest engineering and construction contractors in the United States. Fox rose from part-time summer employee while still a student at ATU to functional manager to principal vice president, placing him in the top 0.2 percent of a company that employed 50,000 people at the time.
Fox oversaw civil engineering projects around the world and designed and implemented training programs to improve Bechtel’s global functions capability. He completed his career as chief operating officer for a United Kingdom Ministry of Defense project that dealt with procurement of weapon systems for air and navy operations.
Chaun Harper
A 1997 graduate of Arkansas Tech, Harper is chief supply chain officer for Mary Kay Inc., which has operations in almost 40 international markets. His role includes oversight of global manufacturing, global integrated supply chain, global quality, global procurement and supplier development, corporate engineering and global transportation and logistics.
Harper was previously director of production operations for Mary Kay from 2014-19 and he had a 17-year career at L’Oréal. He was an All-America and two-time all-conference defensive back for the Arkansas Tech football team and a member of the Wonder Boys team that won the final Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference football championship in 1994.
About the ATU Hall of Distinction
Established in 1964, the Arkansas Tech Hall of Distinction recognizes the accomplishments of Arkansas Tech alumni and friends in five categories: Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna, Distinguished Alumni Service, Outstanding Young Alumnus/Alumna, Distinction in Intercollegiate Athletics and Distinguished Service (non-alumnus).
Nominations for the Arkansas Tech Hall of Distinction may be made by any graduate of Arkansas Tech, any current or former member of the faculty or administration of Tech, any currently enrolled full-time student at Tech or any member of the Hall of Distinction. Nominations may not be made by a family member of the nominee.
The nomination deadline is Oct. 1 of each year. Honorees are selected by the ATU Board of Trustees.
No incumbent member of the Arkansas Tech Board of Trustees, faculty, staff or administration is eligible for nomination for any category of the Hall of Distinction.
For more information about nominating an individual for the Arkansas Tech Hall of Distinction, visit www.atualumni.com, call (479) 968-0242 or send e-mail to alumni@atu.edu.
