Gov. Asa Hutchinson late Thursday appointed Paul Rowton of Harrisburg, Bishop Robert G. Rudolph Jr. of Bryant and Steve Eddington of Benton to the newly expanded Arkansas State University System Board of Trustees.
Act 18 of 2021 increased the number of board positions from five to seven and extended board appointments to seven-year terms. It follows the addition of Henderson State University, ASU Three Rivers and ASU Mid-South to the system in 2021, 2020 and 2015, respectively.
Rowton succeeds Stacy Crawford of Jonesboro; his term expires in 2028.
The two new positions have shorter terms only for initial appointments. Rudolph’s term is six years, and Eddington’s term is five years.
Rowton is a 1998 A-State graduate and has a bachelor’s degree in marketing. He is executive vice president of GES Inc. and a partner in Fast Lane Markets LLC.
He is past president of the A-State Alumni Association and helped oversee construction of the Cooper Alumni Center. The 2009 Arkansas Business 40 Under 40 honoree is also a past chairman, treasurer, vice chair and board member of the Arkansas Grocers & Retail Merchants Association and past president of the Harrisburg Chamber of Commerce.
He and his wife are 1924 Sustaining Life Members of the A-State Alumni Association and are members of the Red Wolves Foundation.
Rudolph received a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1990 from Henderson State, where he served as student body president. He is expected to receive his Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Texas at El Paso this year.
Rudolph is the adjutant general of the Church of God in Christ Inc. and jurisdictional bishop of the St. Maarten Reheboth Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction. He serves as chief minister of protocol for the Church of God in Christ and assists the presiding bishop in directing the National Adjutancy.
Rudolph has 33 years of pastoral experience serving congregations in Arkansas. His secular career spans three decades in government, including service as a clerk for the Arkansas General Assembly, a congressional aide and a special assistant to the governor of Arkansas. Rudolph has also participated in the White House Roundtable of African American Faith Leaders.
Eddington is a 1984 graduate of Henderson State, with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, and a 1997 graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a master’s degree in journalism. He is vice president of public relations at Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation.
Eddington was previously a communications executive at Alltel Corp., Alltel Information Services and Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. He is a former sports writer for 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.
