CONWAY, Ark. (June 8, 2022) – Two new members have
been named to the Hendrix College Board of Trustees: Heather Gardner ’93 of
Chicago and the Rev. Dr. John C. Robbins of Little Rock. Both will begin their
terms at the Board’s October meeting.
“We are excited to welcome two outstanding new
members to the Board of Trustees,” said Hendrix College President W. Ellis
Arnold III ’79. “They each bring strong leadership experience and unique
perspective, and I look forward to their contributions and service to the
Board.”
About Heather Gardner
Gardner, who will serve a six-year term, works as a
Financial Institutions Relationship Manager for William Blair & Company LLC
in their investment management distribution division, where she has been
employed since 2001 and is a former partner. Most recently, she was the
co-Chair for the 2021 Annual Money Management Institute’s Distribution
Leadership Forum. Heather is a member and past board member of the Women
Investment Professionals of Chicago and is an active member of the Executive
Club of Chicago. She is currently a candidate for the University of Chicago’s
Graham School for a Master of Liberal Arts degree with a concentration in
Ethics and Leadership.
Gardner’s civic involvement includes serving as treasurer
and head of the Finance Committee for the Civic Leadership Foundation (CLF), a
nonprofit organization serving Chicagoland schools providing social-emotional
project-based learning curriculum. She received Crain’s Chicago Business’
Notable Nonprofit Board Leaders recognition for her volunteer board work with
CLF and the Community Service Award from the Junior League of Chicago in 2017.
Gardner and her sister, Mary Gardner Burrelle ’95, recently co-founded the Women’s
Leadership Endowment at Hendrix
College, bringing together female Hendrix students and alumnae to create a
network for leadership development programming, career guidance, mentoring, and
internships.
About the Rev. Dr. John Robbins
Robbins, who will serve a three-year term in a Board
seat designated for United Methodist clergy, became the Senior Pastor of
Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church in Little Rock in July of 2020. Prior
to that appointment, he served as senior pastor of Memorial Drive UMC in
Houston, Texas, and of Central UMC in Fayetteville, Arkansas. A native of Texas,
he is a graduate of Tarleton State University and received his Master of
Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from the Perkins School of Theology at
SMU. Robbins is married to Hendrix alumna Susan Roberts Robbins ’86. His
daughter, Rachel Robbins Sitler ’12, is also a graduate of Hendrix.
Robbins has previous board service experience with numerous
nonprofit organizations, including Harris Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas; Houston
Methodist West Hospital; the Foundation of Trinity Mother Francis Hospital in
Tyler, Texas; the Central Texas Methodist Foundation; and the Methodist
Foundation for Arkansas. He also served as board president of The Homes for
Retired Ministers-Central Texas Conference.
About Hendrix College
A private liberal
arts college in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix College consistently earns
recognition as one of the country’s leading liberal arts institutions, and is
featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the
Way You Think About Colleges. Its academic quality and rigor, innovation,
and value have established Hendrix as a fixture in numerous college guides,
lists, and rankings. Founded in 1876, Hendrix has been affiliated with the
United Methodist Church since 1884. To learn more, visit www.hendrix.edu.