It is with heavy hearts we share the passing of Dr. Mark Elrod, a lecturer in the Department of Government, Public Service, and International Studies at UCA.
Dr. Elrod joined the department in 2014 after teaching political science courses at Harding University in Searcy for nearly three decades. At UCA, Dr. Elrod taught sections of the introductory U.S. government & politics course, along with upper-division courses on the United Nations, international law, and American foreign policy. In addition, Dr. Elrod coordinated the annual Arkansas Model United Nations (AMUN) conference for hundreds of high school students from Arkansas and neighboring states each November. In his capacity as a co-faculty advisor for the UCA Model United Nations student organization, Dr. Elrod advised numerous UCA students who participated in collegiate Model UN conferences in Arkansas and Missouri.
Dr. Elrod earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at Lipscomb College in Nashville in 1984 and a Ph.D. in political science at Vanderbilt University in 1995. Previously, Dr. Elrod served in the U.S. Navy as an aviation anti-submarine warfare operator from 1976 to 1980. Among his many roles on UCA’s campus, Dr. Elrod proudly served on the university’s veterans affairs committee in 2020-2021 and 2023-2026. Dr. Elrod was appointed by Governor Mike Beebe and served as a member of the Keep Arkansas Beautiful (KAB) Commission from 2014 to 2020. He was also an active member of the Arkansas Political Science Association (ArkPSA) for nearly four decades, including serving as president of the association in 2002-2003.
Dr. Elrod was a valued member of our university community, and we share in the grief of his family, friends, colleagues, students, and all who knew and cared for him. His colleagues and students in the department will especially miss his sense of humor and dedication to higher education and public service.
A service for Dr. Elrod will take place at Roller-Chenal Funeral Home in Little Rock, Saturday, Sept. 5, with visitation at noon and the service at 2 p.m.
