Steve Eddington
Benton
Chair
Steve Eddington, a 1984 graduate of Henderson State with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and a 1997 graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a Master of Arts in journalism, is vice president of public relations at Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation. He joined Farm Bureau in 2003 and is responsible for public information efforts that promote the policies, programs and achievements of the 190,000-member statewide agricultural advocacy organization.
A native of Warren, he was previously a communications executive at Alltel Corp., Alltel Information Services and Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. He is a former sportswriter at the Arkansas Democrat and was sports information director at Henderson.
In addition to serving as president of the Alumni Association, Eddington is a life member of the H Club and a member of Sigma Tau Gamma at Henderson. He is a member of the Arkansas Newspaper Foundation board of directors.
He and his wife, Vanna McCauley Eddington, have two grown children and three grandchildren.
His appointment expires in January 2026. He may be contacted at seddington@asusystem.edu.
Bishop Robert G. Rudolph Jr.
Bryant
Vice Chair
Bishop Robert G. Rudolph Jr. of Bryant was elected General Secretary of the Church of God In Christ in November 2024. In this role, Bishop Rudolph is the secretary of the church, its corporate board of directors, and the official custodian of records for the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world.
In 2014, he was consecrated as a bishop by Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake and elected president of the largest Episcopal Class in the church’s history. As the Adjutant General, he was the denomination’s chief minister of protocol to the Presiding Bishop. Later, as the governmental affairs liaison for the denomination, his lobbying efforts secured $2.1 million in federal funding, establishing the COGIC Community Resource Center in Lexington, Miss., at the historic Saints Academy Campus. In addition to being the Prelate of the St. Maarten Rehoboth Jurisdiction, he is empowered with over 30 years of pastoral ministry.
Bishop Rudolph has also made notable contributions to public service, advising four governors of Arkansas and participating in justice reform discussions at the White House. As an educator, Rudolph has held professorial appointments at the undergraduate level in various academic disciplines including government, political science, and public administration.
He is working toward a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership, with a concentration in Higher Education Administration, at Arkansas State University. He earned a Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) from the University of Texas at El Paso and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) with a double major in political science and speech and theatre from Henderson State University, where he served as president of the Student Government Association for two terms.
Bishop Rudolph was raised in Harrisburg and Malvern and is a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. He is married to Michelle Parham Rudolph.
His appointment expires in January 2027. He may be contacted at rudolph@asusystem.edu.
Paul Rowton
Harrisburg
Secretary
Paul Rowton, a 1998 graduate of Arkansas State with a Bachelor of Science in marketing, is executive vice president of GES Inc. GES operates nine Edwards Food Giant stores and six Edwards Cash Saver stores. He is also a partner in Fast Lane Markets LLC, which owns and operates convenience stores.
A native of Forrest City, Rowton is past president of the A-State Alumni Association and helped oversee construction of the Cooper Alumni Center. In 2024 he was named Arkansas Business Financial Executive of the Year. The 2009 Arkansas Business 40 Under 40 honoree is chairman of the Arkansas Retailers Association and serves on the board of directors of the National Grocers Association. Rowton is a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International and is a past president of the Harrisburg Chamber of Commerce.
Rowton is a member of Kappa Alpha Order. He and his wife – Ashley Edwards Rowton, a 1999 graduate of A-State – are 1924 Sustaining Life Members of the A-State Alumni Association and are members of the Red Wolves Foundation. They have two sons, JP (a student at Arkansas State University) and William.
His appointment expires in January 2028. He may be contacted at prowton@asusystem.edu.
Price Gardner
Little Rock
Mr. Price Gardner of Little Rock is the Managing Partner of Friday Eldredge & Clark LLP, the state’s largest law firm, and has been a member of the firm since 1989.
He earned his Bachelor’s degree in accounting at Arkansas State in 1984 and his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law in 1988. He also has a Master of Laws (LL.M) degree in taxation from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. In addition to being a member of the Arkansas bar since 1988, he is also licensed as a certified public accountant (inactive) in Arkansas.
He is a member of Fifty for the Future, Arkansas and American Bar Associations, the Arkansas Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Red Wolves Foundation and Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. He is a 1924 Sustaining Life Member of the ASU Alumni Association.
While at Arkansas State, he was a four-year football letterman, two-time All-Southland Conference selection and three-time Southland Conference All-Academic Team. In 2021, he was named a Distinguished Alumni of the UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law.
His appointment expires in January 2029. He may be contacted at pgardner@asusystem.edu.
Gary Harpole
Jonesboro
Mr. Gary Harpole of Jonesboro is a real estate developer licensed at Halsey Thrasher Harpole Real Estate Group in Jonesboro.
Mr. Harpole was previously director of operations for the City of Jonesboro and chief of staff in the mayor’s office. He has a long history of community service and leading quality of life projects in Jonesboro.
In 1992 at age 26, he was elected to serve on the Jonesboro City Council, He served two terms on the council, the last of which he also served as vice mayor. While on the council, he co-chaired the city’s Metropolitan Area Traffic Authority and chaired the city’s Parks and Industrial Committees. He later served on the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission and co-chaired Jonesboro’s 20-year Vision 2030 Master Planning Committee.
Mr. Harpole is a member of the Advisory Board of the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine on the campus of Arkansas State in Jonesboro, the Jonesboro Exchange Club and First Baptist Church of Jonesboro. He is a former member of the A-State Chancellor’s Task Force on Safety, past president of the Jonesboro Jaycees and a former member of the Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. He is a graduate of the Delta Regional Authority Delta Leadership Institute.
Mr. Harpole was appointed to a seven-year term that will expire in January 2030. He may be contacted at gharpole@asusystem.edu.
Jerry Morgan
Jonesboro
Jerry Morgan of Jonesboro was reappointed to a seven-year term on the board by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in January 2024. He was originally appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson in December 2021 to fulfill the remaining term of Dr. Tim Langford of Jonesboro and served as chair of the board in 2023. He has worked in banking for more than 30 years and is Regional President for First National Bank, which is the naming sponsor of First National Bank Arena on the Arkansas State University campus.
A native of Harrisburg, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from Arkansas State in 1992 and a Master of Business Administration degree from A-State in 1998. He also holds a degree from the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking from Southern Methodist University.
Morgan is chairman of the Jonesboro Advertising and Promotions Commission, where he has been active in many tourism- and sports-related economic development projects. He was also an integral part of the development of the Embassy Suites Hotel and Red Wolf Convention Center.
He is past president of the Jonesboro University Rotary Club, where he has received two Paul Harris Fellow awards, and served as a board member of the Arkansas Bankers Association and Craighead County Community Foundation.
Morgan was selected as an Arkansas Business “40 under 40” honoree in 2007 and as a Jonesboro Sun “12 People That Make Things Happen” honoree. He is a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, where he received the Alumni of the Year Award. He is also a 1924 Sustaining Life Member of the A-State Alumni Association.
Jerry is married to Caroline Bishop Morgan, who received a Master of Communication Disorders degree in speech-language pathology from A-State and practices at the Valley View School District. They have two children, Luke and Kate Morgan.
His term will expire Jan. 14, 2031. He may be contacted at jmorgan@asusystem.edu.
Carole Farmer
Fayetteville
Carole Farmer of Fayetteville, a 2005 graduate of Arkansas State University, is a Certified Medical Practice Executive (CMPE) and owns Arkansas Medical Management Consulting, LLC, a medical consulting firm that provides support for physician-owned practices.She worked 17 years for the largest multi-specialty physician medical clinic in northeast Arkansas. Her last seven years, she served as the clinic’s administrator and managed more than 120 employees.
Farmer earned both her bachelor’s degree in accounting (2005) and master’s in business administration (2008) at A-State. She also served as an adjunct professor of accounting at A-State for two years, primarily focused on managerial accounting.
She served for five years on the Board of Directors for Arkansas Medical Group Managers Association, her last year as chair of the organization. Prior to her medical management career, she worked in the banking industry focusing on internal auditing and regulatory compliance. She is a member of the board of directors of Farmer Enterprises Inc.
A native of Palestine, she is married to Alec Farmer, a 1986 Arkansas State University graduate. They are 1924 Sustaining Life Members of the A-State Alumni Association and endowed the Dalton A. Farmer Family Scholarship in 2015. Together they have four adult daughters. Emily, their youngest daughter, is an A-State graduate.
Farmer was appointed to a seven-year term in 2025 by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Her appointment expires in January 2032. She may be contacted at clfarmer@asusystem.edu.
