Two University of Central Arkansas alumnae were inaugural inductees in the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame. Dr. Mary Lowe Good ’50 and Johnelle DeBusk Hunt were among 11 women and one women’s organization that were inducted during a ceremony held on Aug. 27, 2015 at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
Nan Snow ’57 serves as board president of the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame.
“From the UCA community, we congratulate the inaugural class of the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame, and are especially pleased that Dr. Mary Good and Johnelle Hunt are two of the inductees. Both are Distinguished Alumni of the University of Central Arkansas,” said UCA President Tom Courtway. “We thank both of them for their work in education, business and in many charitable endeavors. They are very worthy recipients of this honor and have been leaders in their respective fields for many years.”
Good and Hunt were both recognized as UCA Distinguished Alumni in 1990 and 2003, respectively.
“We congratulate them, and we also appreciate and acknowledge the work of the president of the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame board, Nan Snow, an alumna of this institution,” Courtway said.
Good is the founding dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology (E.I.T.) at the University of Arkansas Little Rock and is presently serving as a special advisor to the chancellor for economic development. Good also serves on the boards of Saint Vincent Health System and Delta Bank and Trust, both of Little Rock. Previously, Good served four years as the undersecretary for Technology for the Technology Administration in the U.S. Department of Commerce. In addition, Good chaired the National Science and Technology Council’s Committee on Technological Innovation (NSTC/CTI) and served on the NSTC Committee on National Security.
Good began her 25-year teaching career as a professor of chemistry at the University of New Orleans and professor of materials science at Louisiana State University, where she achieved the university’s highest professional rank, Boyd Professor. Good has also served on the boards of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Cincinnati Milacron and Ameritech. She was also a member of the National Advisory Board for the state of Arkansas. She has received 21 honorary degrees. She earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and physics from the Arkansas State Teacher’s College (ASTC), now UCA, in 1950. She earned a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Arkansas in 1953 and 1955, respectively.
Hunt is co-founder of J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc., one of the largest companies in the transportation industry. Hunt currently holds a seat on the Harvey and Bernice Jones Eye Institute Advisory Board. She is the founding chairman of the United Way Alexis de Tocqueville Society for Washington County as well as a founding executive board member of the Ozark Affiliate of Susan G. Komen. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Beau Foundation benefiting prenatal care in Northwest Arkansas since 2003. She previously served on the UAMS Foundation Board.
In 1990, she and her husband, Johnnie, were chosen as the Arkansas Easter Seal Arkansans of the Year, the first couple to receive this award. In 1992, she was one of four women to receive the Worthen Professional Women of Distinction Award and has been included in “The Top 100 Women” list for Arkansas from 1994 to 1998. In 1996, the March of Dimes honored the Hunts as Citizens of the Year and in 2001, they were inducted into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame. The Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce honored her in 2013 with the Dick Trammel Good Neighbor Award. She received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by the University of Arkansas in 2009. She attended ASTC, where she studied elementary education.