Public Safety Staff

David Bugh is the Assistant Director of Public Safety at Hendrix College. He has been with Hendrix Public Safety since leaving the United States Air Force in 1992 and has been a certified Arkansas Private Security Officer since 2014. His career as an Air Force Security Policeman began in 1980 shortly after graduation from Bedford North Lawrence High School in Bedford, Indiana. David has been stationed at RAF Upper Heyford in the United Kingdom; Little Rock AFB in Jacksonville, Arkansas; and McConnell AFB in Wichita, Kansas. While stationed at McConnell AFB, he designed the official heraldry for the 384th Security Police Squadron and served as Secret Service support for visiting Russian President Boris Yeltsin. David is responsible, along with the Director of Public Safety, for overseeing daily campus safety and security operations, managing all college CCTV and access control systems, and supervising a team of eleven Public Safety Officers. He has been married to his wife Pamela since 1986, has two adult daughters and three granddaughters. When not at work, David enjoys spending time with Pamela and working on projects around their house.

Officer James T. (J.T.) Fulmer was born in Searcy, Arkansas. The youngest of four children, he was raised in and around central Arkansas. J.T. was interested in sports as a child, but his love of reading overshadowed that. After graduating from Jacksonville High School, he built custom cabinets for three years. In 1979, J.T. joined the U.S. Army and trained as a Military Policeman. He spent the next 12 years at various duty stations, including Whiley Barracks in Germany, Fort Clayton in Panama, West Point in New York, and Fort Hood in Texas. After returning to White County, Arkansas he worked for various police departments until his retirement in 2009. J.T. joined the Hendrix College Department of Public Safety as a Public Safety Officer in April 2011. He is still an avid reader of mostly early science fiction. He lives in Beebe with his best friend, Kimberly, and her two granddaughters and likes to repurpose old furniture and work in his yard. J.T. has enjoyed his time at Hendrix and looks forward to serving the community for years to come.

Officer Johnny Heffner is originally from Bald Knob and graduated from Bradford High School Class of ‘85. He moved to Conway three years ago after meeting his partner, Dewayne. Johnny and Dewayne currently reside in Damascus where they have lived a quiet life for the past two years. Prior to joining Hendrix Public Safety, Officer Heffner spent the last five years working for Securitas Security Services USA, mostly at Kimberly Clark here in Conway. Johnny’s pastimes include spending time with family and friends, swimming, camping, gardening, most anything outdoors. Officer Heffner enjoys meeting new people and hopes to make a positive impact as a public safety officer here at Hendrix College.

Officer Laura Leak was born in Arkansas and spent most of her adolescent years in the south/southeast. Laura comes from a loving family of seven; mother, father and four siblings. She started out on her own at a young age, after high school, and pursued music for the first five years or so. Then Laura got into the construction industry. She spent her career as construction manager, QA/QC, piping trades, construction administrator and automatic orbital welding technician. Officer Leak has traveled and worked in almost every state in the US during her career and still doesn’t mind an occasional road trip. Laura earned an AS degree as a non-traditional student in her thirties during her construction career. Laura has owned five small businesses, starting, and dissolving each for various reasons and has now shifted her interests to the security sector. She loves music, playing guitar, reading, hiking, healthy eating, camping, exercising and good company.

Officer Chris M. Watkins was born in Odessa, TX and moved to Conway in 2005. He has been married since 2001 and has three children. He retired from the oilfield in 2005.  Officer Watkins is also a veteran. He served 10 years as an Infantry Paratrooper. Officer Watkins is currently employed by The Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office, where he serves as the Unit 1 Maximum Security Detention Center Sergeant. Officer Watkins is a small business owner and a licensed firearm instructor. 

Officer Justin Ashley grew up in the Conway area and attended Arkansas State University. He enjoys movies, video games and reading. He lives outside of Conway with his wife and kids. 

Officer Doug Vanaman was born in Greenville, Mississippi and moved to North Little Rock a year later, then to Conway in 1979. He graduated from Conway High School in 1986 and married his high school sweetheart Tammy in 1988. After becoming an EMT in 1992, Doug went to work at the Conway Regional Emergency Response Team as a dispatcher and EMT-Basic. He attended and graduated from the UAMS-CHRP Paramedic program in 1994. He worked as a Firefighter-Paramedic for Conway Fire Department throughout 95' and 96' while working simultaneously as a paramedic for the ERT ambulance service. Doug left the fire service after their only child, Abbigale, was born. He continued to work as a medic while attending UCA from 99' to 03' as a biology major and Apoptosis Research Team member. Doug was accepted to medical school prior to graduating from UCA and attended the College of Medicine until withdrawing prior to his senior year. Doug, Tammy, and Abbigale have since been involved with multiple non-profit and mutual aid groups in support of basic Human Rights, providing food, clothing, and logistical assistance to those struggling with poverty and homelessness. Also providing free security services to events involving marginalized groups. Doug and his family have and continue to avidly pursue outdoor adventure. Including hiking, climbing, canoeing and spelunking.

Officer Moore-Goekler grew up in Quitman, Arkansas. She is a mother of three, and a wife. She loves to read, fish, and spend time with her family. She was a certified nurse’s assistant for six years and is currently in school for a degree in Criminal Justice.

Officer Josh Vanderwall moved to Conway from upstate New York in 2004, quite the change of pace. After the initial culture shock, he graduated from Vilonia High School in 2009 and served six years in the Army Reserves as a Medic and Combat Engineer. Josh worked private security at a local corporation and worked as a seasonal Park Ranger for the Army Corps of Engineers. In 2016, he became a Faulkner County Sheriff's Reserve Unit member and began working part-time as a Public Safety Officer at Hendrix College before becoming a full-time officer in December 2016. In 2019, Josh accepted a full-time position at the Arkansas State Hospital in Little Rock, but remains at Hendrix as a part-time officer. On his off time, he enjoys working on computer hardware, reading fiction and nonfiction, playing PC games, hiking, listening to podcasts, and watching a variety of video content (Netflix, YouTube, Crunchyroll, etc.). Josh's favorite book series is the Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin and favorite television series is Game of Thrones. His favorite film is The Guest starring Dan Stevens.