Dr. James Stobaugh is the 2022-23 Arkansas Tech University professor of the year.
Stobaugh, who is associate professor of sociology at Arkansas Tech, was chosen through a student vote conducted by the ATU Student Government Association. More than 40 members of the ATU faculty were nominated for 2022-23 ATU professor of the year.
“We’re a teaching institution,” said Stobaugh. “That’s the primary job we do here at Arkansas Tech. Knowing that we’ve mattered and we’ve made a difference…it’s everything. It’s an honor.”
Stobaugh joined the ATU faculty in 2013. He was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure by the ATU Board of Trustees in 2019.
One of the founding co-sponsors of the student organization Because We Can, which was a forerunner to today’s Do Something organization at ATU, Stobaugh was integral in the establishment of a food pantry at ATU.
He and his faculty colleague Dr. Sean Huss, the 2021-22 ATU professor of the year, shared the 2016 ATU outstanding club and organization faculty advisor award for their work with Because We Can.
Stobaugh graduated from Leadership Tech as part of the initiative’s inaugural cohort. He was part of a Leadership Tech team that led the development of the student veterans lounge in Doc Bryan Student Services Center.
A graduate of the University of Hawaii with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Stobaugh went on to obtain Master of Arts degrees from the University of Memphis and the University of California at Irvine. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy degree at UC Irvine.
“He always goes above and beyond to prepare for his classes,” wrote ATU student Hannah Stone in her nomination of Stobaugh for the ATU professor of the year award. “Out of all of my professors, I believe I will remember the most from his classes.”
