UALR Names John Kirk Director of Institute on Race and Ethnicity

John Kirk

University of Arkansas at Little Rock officials announced Friday that John Kirk will be the new director of the UALR Institute on Race and Ethnicity.

Kirk, a Donaghey Distinguished Professor of History, is a native of Great Britain who garnered international acclaim for his Little Rock-focused research on race and the civil rights movement.

Kirk has been a member of the Chancellor’s Committee on Race and Ethnicity since he arrived at the university more than five years ago and has been involved with the institute since its inception about four years ago. 

“I have a deep personal and professional commitment to the pursuit of racial and ethnic justice, and I think that should be the primary reason anyone takes on the job of director of UALR’s Institute on Race and Ethnicity — it is at the very heart of what the institute does,” Kirk said in a news release.

Kirk plans to connect with and engage as many students, faculty, and community members as possible in achieving the goals of the institute, which include:

• Raising awareness of race and ethnicity issues.
• Providing research-based information and policy recommendations.
• Building bridges and seeking reconciliation through interracial and interethnic dialogue.
• Holding UALR accountable for becoming a more diverse and multi-ethnic community.

For the past 25 years, Kirk has researched and written about issues of race and ethnicity in the U.S., especially in Little Rock and Arkansas. He recently partnered with the BBC on its Martin Luther King Jr. web display that serves as an information resource for an international audience.  

Kirk replaces Michael R. Twyman, who resigned in July to take a position at the Indiana Black Expo organization. 

With Kirk’s new director responsibilities, he will remain the Donaghey Distinguished Professor of History but no longer will serve as the UALR History Department chair.

“I am excited by the challenges and opportunities that the director’s job brings with it,” Kirk said. “I particularly look forward to getting to know more about and working with students, faculty, and community members who are learning, teaching, researching and serving on issues of race and ethnicity.”