ATU to Celebrate 25 Years of RPL on October 30 – Arkansas Tech University

Arkansas Tech University will mark the 25th anniversary of the dedication of Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center with a reception on Wednesday, Oct. 30.

The event will begin at 3 p.m. in Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center room 300, 305 West Q Street in Russellville. Refreshments will be served. The reception will be open to the public.

Scheduled speakers include Dr. Robert C. Brown, who served as ATU president from 1993-2014; Major General Bill Harmon, who was ATU associate vice president for technology during the time Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center was planned and opened; and Jayne Jones, who was ATU associate vice president for administration and finance at the time Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center was constructed as part of her 47-year career at Arkansas Tech.

Eric Rector, ATU library director, and Steve Milligan, ATU director of information services and chief information officer, will recognize past and present staff members from the ATU library staff and the ATU Office of Information Systems for their efforts to maintain and maximize the resources available in Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center.

The story of Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center began on July 2, 1996, when the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation announced a $13 million gift — still the largest single private gift ever made in support of Arkansas Tech University — for the construction of the building.

The structure’s namesake was born in the Scott County community of Abbott in 1925. Pendergraft was a World War II veteran. His graduation from Arkansas Tech in 1948 was made possible by the G.I. Bill.

Pendergraft went on to a 45-year career with what came to be known as Donrey Media Group. He started on the advertising staff at the Southwest Times Record newspaper in Fort Smith and rose all the way to executive vice president and chief operating manager for Donrey Media Group. At that time, Donrey owned more than 50 newspapers in the United States, including five in Arkansas.

A three-time Arkansas Press Association man of the year award recipient, Pendergraft gave of his time to benefit the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, the Fort Smith United Way and the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce.

Pendergraft was inducted into the ATU Hall of Distinction in 1981.

He was among a crowd of approximately 250 people who attended the groundbreaking for Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center in April 1997. Pendergraft passed away one year later at the age of 72.

The three-story, 91,000-square foot library and technology center opened in summer 1999 and was formally dedicated on Oct. 30, 1999. Speakers at the dedication included Brown in his role as ATU president; Neal Pendergraft, son of Ross Pendergraft; and Fred W. Smith, chairman of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.

Brown told those assembled for the dedication in 1999 that Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center would “thrust Arkansas Tech 25 years into the next millennium.”

“Each time we teach in this building…each time we learn in this building…each time we recruit new students…each time we recruit new colleagues for the faculty and staff…each time we promote this institution…we memorialize the name of Ross Pendergraft,” said Brown at the building dedication.

Roy Ockert, a contemporary of Pendergraft in the newspaper business and the editor of The Courier newspaper in Russellville in 1999, wrote an editorial that was published the day after the dedication of Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center.

“Indeed, Ross Pendergraft must still be smiling as he sees what the building that bears his name will do every day for the community of scholars at Arkansas Tech,” wrote Ockert.

Learn more about Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center at https://library.atu.edu.