Public Safety Staff

Director David Bugh 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 graduating 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. Director Bugh is responsible for overseeing daily campus safety and security operations, managing all college CCTV and access control systems, and supervising a team of sixteen Public Safety professionals. 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.

Assistant Director Justin Ashley grew up in the Conway area and attended Arkansas State University. He worked in private security and law enforcement for several years before arriving at Hendrix. Justin enjoys movies, video games and reading. He lives outside of Conway with his wife and kids. 

Assistant Director 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 family continue to avidly pursue outdoor adventures, including hiking, climbing, canoeing and spelunking. Doug was promoted to Assistant Director of Public Safety for Training & Outreach in the fall of 2024.

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. His pastimes include spending time with family and friends, swimming, camping, gardening, and most anything outdoors. Johnny enjoys meeting new people and hopes to make a positive impact as a Public Safety Officer here at Hendrix College.

Officer Ben Mackintosh was born in Ft. Smith, Arkansas.  He started out as the youngest of three children but was bumped out of that position after seven years, ultimately ending up as the middle child.  Ben moved to Conway in 1990 when his father got a teaching position at UCA.  He graduated from CHS in 1992.  He started attending UCA in the Spring of 1993 and graduated with a BA in Religious Studies in 2002.  Nothing was omitted there; he really was an undergrad for nine years.

After leaving UCA Ben got a job at the law firm of Wright, Lindsey, and Jennings where he worked in Courier Services/Records until achieving near total burnout in early 2013. Later that year he came to work at Hendrix.  He started out as part time help in the mail room, was promoted to mail room manager, was laid off from that position due to budget cuts, took a position in Dining as a utility worker, then quickly moved to the Catering department where he stayed until June of 2024 at which point he transferred to the Department of Public Safety.  In that time, he also worked some Summers and Christmas breaks in the Housekeeping Department.

He has the dubious distinction of having worked in more departments at Hendrix than any other current employee.  Ben's hobbies include gardening, cooking, world building, making oblique movie, book, and TV references that no one ever gets, and trying to trick students into believing he lives on the third floor of the SLTC. Oh, and once he saw a blimp.

Officer MyKayla Smith has been with Hendrix Public Safety since July of 2024. She is currently attending the University of Arkansas Pulaski Tech where she is enrolled in the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Program to help prepare for a career in law enforcement. When she is not spending time with her dog, MyKayla loves to be outside enjoying nature, reading, and playing video games.

Officer Rob Brown was born in Whiston Merseyside United Kingdom (UK), which is a suburb of Liverpool, the home of the Beatles. He moved to Conway in 2024 from Akron, Ohio with his wife Karen who was a professor of music here at Hendrix for 31 years. Rob and Karen were married in May 2018 at Green Chapel and they set up home in the UK. Family circumstances brought them back to America in 2020 and Rob decided to make the USA his home, Rob has two adult children who live in the UK but visit regularly.

His interests are Soccer, a lifelong supporter of Everton FC; motorcycles, he has been a motorcyclist for over 50 years; music, he loves a wide variety of music from Progressive Rock to Classical, including live music; and watching movies, whether at a movie theatre or at home. His hobbies include restoring classic era Japanese motorcycles; building model aircraft; classic warbirds; reading; setting the smoke detectors off in the kitchen at home as he tries to cook; and playing with their two dogs Polly and Silke.

Officer Nick Horn was birthed in the Arkansas River Valley and raised right here in Conway, AR. He attended Arkansas Tech University where he became a proud Wonderboy and a Nite Owl. After university, the oil/gas fields of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas claimed much of his young adulthood.

Beginning anew Nick started as a caterer/dish room worker at Hendrix College in 2010 at the award-winning cafeteria. Then in 2018 he decided to become a housekeeper at our stalwart hard working Facilities Management Department.

In 2024, for a change of pace and out of curiosity Nick happily joined the impeccable ranks of the Department of Public Safety.  Nick enjoys long solitary walks at night, reading, and watching ad-free YouTube. 

Officer Sulma Bautista was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala and migrated to the U.S. at the age of 8. She graduated from Miami Springs High School in 1992. Sulma worked for 5 years as a Public Safety Supervisor with IPC International Corp. at the Pembroke Lakes Mall, Pembroke Pines Florida. She also worked for 19 years as a Clerk and a Call Center Operator with Miami Dade Public Housing and Community Development. Sulma and her wife were also part of the LGBT community in Miami Beach Florida where they attended and served as security for the Gay Pride Parade. 

Her greatest accomplishment in life has been being able to give her wife Mary the gift of life, as on January 9th, 2020, Sulma was able to donate her kidney to her wife Mary. In November of 2021 Sulma and her family relocated to Conway Arkansas where they found peace and tranquility living in the country. Sulma enjoys spending time with her family and her three chihuahuas, as she believes having family time is like food to her soul and a great way to appreciate life.  

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 oil field in 2005.  Officer Watkins is also a veteran. He served 10 years as an Infantry Paratrooper. Officer Watkins is currently employed full time by The Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office, where he serves as the Captain and Jail Administrator. Officer Watkins is a small business owner and a licensed firearm instructor.

Officer Tony McCoy has been a resident of Conway most of his life. He attended Central Baptist College, pursuing a degree in Religious Education with an emphasis in Biblical Studies. He works full-time here in Conway at Ellen Smith Elementary School in a behavior/autism class. Tony is a Christian and pursues a life of godly character. He loves to read and spend time with family and friends. Tony looks forward to exercising his skills in leadership and expressing innovative ideas as we all strive to lead our students further into their future endeavors.

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 Josh Vanderwall moved to Conway from upstate New York in 2004, quite a 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 in 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 call-in 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.

Officer Jake Pendergrass was born in Jacksonville, Arkansas and has lived all over the country and Germany due to his father’s service in the U.S. Army. After graduating high school at Fort Knox, Kentucky in 1999, Jake joined the U.S. Air Force in 2000 and was stationed in Minot, North Dakota. Upon leaving the Air Force he returned to central Arkansas and was married for seven years, having a daughter and two sons. In 2012 Jake moved to Marshall, Texas where he met his wife of ten years and had his youngest son. He moved to Conway in the spring of 2022. Officer Pendergrass’s career in security and law enforcement has spanned over 20 years. Jake enjoys spending time with family, hunting, fishing, and camping every chance he gets. 

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 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 Lydia Montoya graduated from Sanger High School (California) in 1986 and joined the United States Marine Corps where she remained until 1990. Lydia then worked for the next several years as a security guard, supervisor, and interim manager for various hospitals, security companies, and casinos. In 1997 she began her law enforcement career as a deputy for the Kings County Sheriff’s Office where she worked patrol and performed duties as an explorer advisor/coordinator, hostage negotiator, juvenile service officer, and bailiff. While a deputy, Lydia attended Fresno City College, obtaining a drafting certificate in 2009.  She ended her 25-year career in 2023, retiring as the Chief Civil Deputy for the sheriff’s office.