The ASU Alumni Association honored four outstanding individuals at halftime of the Homecoming football game on Saturday, Sept. 20.
This year’s Distinguished Alumni are Rosalie Barber '60 MSE '68 of Jonesboro, a community leader; Bob Earwood '80 of Collierville, Tennessee, a business executive; Maj. Gen. Elder Granger '76 of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, deputy director officer of TRICARE Management, the healthcare provider for the military, and J. Steven McFerron '71 MBA '74 of Jonesboro, a banker and civic leader.
The Alumni Association’s board of directors annually selects award recipients from nominations submitted by the public based on community service, professional achievement and service to ASU. For more information, contact the Alumni office at 870-972-ALUM (2586).
Rosalie Gorham Barber of Jonesboro received a bachelor of science degree in education in 1960 and a master's of secondary education in 1968. She was the Wilson Award winner for 1960, the highest student recognition at ASU. She returned to the A-State campus as an instructor in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department in the College of Education from 1969 through 2000, as well as directing men's and women's intramurals, the first woman to head a men's program at the university level. She is formerly a member of the ASU Alumni Association board of directors, is a 1924 Sustaining Life Member and serves on ASU's Beck PRIDE Center for America's Wounded Veterans National Advisory Council.
For five years, she directed the ASU Cheerleader Summer clinics and was a member of the University Athletic Committee, the first female faculty member to serve. She was a member of the ASU 75th Anniversary Committee, and was a donor for the construction of Indian Stadium. A member of the Sigma Omicron chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi women's fraternity at ASU, Mrs. Barber served for eight years on the Alpha Omicron Pi International Executive board and was president of the Alpha Omicron Pi International Foundation board. While in Canada for the organization's international conference, she ordered a totem pole that was later presented to ASU in recognition of AOII's tenth anniversary on campus.
Along with her late husband, Mrs. Barber founded The Children's House Montessori School in Jonesboro, which they owned for 18 years, and the Montessori Children's House in Blytheville, which they owned for eight years.
Mrs. Barber's community involvement includes serving on The Learning Center board of directors in Jonesboro and at First Baptist Church. At St. Bernards Medical Center, she is a member of the Auxiliary Board, the Women's Advisory Council, and is chair, volunteer and buyer for the Auxiliary Gift Shop. Along with serving on the Northeast Arkansas Breast Cancer Support Group board of directors, she is a member of the Pink Warriors team, sponsored by St. Bernard's, which participates in the Susan G. Komen Foundation's Race for the Cure. She was included as one of the '100 Arkansas Women of Achievement' in Horizons, a book published by the Arkansas Press Women Association in 1980, and was featured in the World Who's Who of Women.
She and her late husband Michie Barber '61 are the parents of Chris Barber '92 of Jonesboro, and Allyson Barber Goodin '86 of Wynne.
Bob Earwood of Collierville, Tennessee, graduated from Arkansas State University in 1980 with a bachelor of science degree and was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. A native of Memphis, he was a four year letterman on the ASU football team, being elected permanent captain of the 1978 conference champion team.
Mr. Earwood is a former member of the Arkansas State University Alumni Association board of directors where he served as president and vice president. He is a 1924 Sustaining Life Member of the ASU Alumni Association, a member of the ASU Legacy Society, the College of Business Alumni Association, the Arkansas State University Foundation board of directors, and the Touchdown Club. A former member of the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee, he serves on the ASU Lettermen's Club board of directors and has served on the board of directors of the Indian Club in which he was vice president for one term and president for two terms.
After graduation from ASU, Mr. Earwood was employed by Holiday Inns Worldwide in Memphis as a project manager, and was responsible for construction and renovation of hotels throughout the U.S. He was a member of the original design team that developed the Crowne Plaza, Embassy Suite, Hampton Inn, Homewood Suite and Perkins Restaurant concepts, and participated in Holiday Inn’s acquisition of Harrah’s Gaming Corporation.
He formed Earwood Contractors in 1989 to continue work in developing and managing the construction of hospitality-related projects for brands such as Hilton, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Marriott, Hyatt and others. He has been involved in over $700 million of development and construction in the past 28 years, including Harrah’s Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and the Sandestin Beach Hilton, one of the largest franchise Hiltons in the world.
A member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Mr. Earwood assisted the ASU Alumni Association in the design and construction of the Cooper Alumni Center, as well as assisting the athletic department in the design and construction of the football fieldhouse.
He is a member of First Baptist Church of Collierville where he serves on the building and transportation committee and in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes ministry. He and his wife Tammy have a daughter, Natalie, who is a senior at St. Mary's School in Memphis.
Major General Elder Granger, class of 1976, of West Memphis, is Deputy Director of TRICARE Management Activity, a Department of Defense (DoD) field activity responsible for operating the Military Health System as a fully integrated health care system within DoD. He is also responsible for TRICARE health and medical resources, supervising and administering TRICARE programs, funding and other resources. Gen. Granger directs a staff of more than 1,800 people and an annual Defense Health Program budget of $22.5 billion with oversight including the effective provision of high-quality, accessible health care for 9.2 million beneficiaries worldwide.
A native of West Memphis, Gen. Granger began his military career in 1971 as a combat medic with the Arkansas National Guard. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in zoology (Cum Laude) from Arkansas State University and distinguished himself by receiving several recognitions while attending ASU. Some of the recognitions that he received included a three-year ROTC Scholarship, Superior Freshman Cadet, Military History Award, Distinguished Military Student, Distinguished Military Graduate and being named to Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, 1976.
After attaining his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 1980, he was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army and has held several leadership positions of significant importance before being selected to serve in his current position. These positions include Division Surgeon, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado; Commander, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany; Commander/Command Surgeon, European Regional Medical Command/7th Army, Heidelberg, Germany; Commanding General/Command Surgeon, 44th Medical Command/XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, NC and Commander, Task Force 44th Medical Command and Command Surgeon for Multinational Corps-Iraq, in Baghdad, Iraq.
He has received more than 30 military and community service awards including the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Man of the Year; named to Outstanding Young Men of America; Department of Defense Superior Service Medal; U.S. Army Legion of Merit with Three Oak Leaf Clusters, and Bronze Star Medal. General Granger and his wife, Brenda, are the parents of two children, attorney Elder Granger II, and Dr. Eldesia Labren Granger, M.D.
J. Steven McFerron received his bachelor's degree in 1971 and a master's in business administration in 1974. He is senior vice-president for lending at BancorpSouth in Jonesboro and has been involved in banking in northeast Arkansas for 34 years. He is a past president of the ASU Alumni Association and is a 1924 Sustaining Life Member. He is an Outstanding Alumnus of the College of Business, serves on the College of Business Advisory Board, and is a former board member of the McAdams-Frierson Chair of Banking. Mr. McFerron is the incoming president of Arkansas State University's Red Wolf Club. He is a past president of the Indian Club and has held membership on the board since 2001. Presently, he is the IC representative on the ASU Foundation Investment Committee.
His current community involvement includes incoming president of Jonesboro's Church Health Center, board member of the Jonesboro Economic Development Corporation for the Jonesboro Chamber of Commerce, First United Methodist Church Administrative Board, and the Jonesboro Rotary Club. He has been recognized twice as a Rotary Club Paul Harris Fellow.
Mr. McFerron is a former president of both the NEA American Institute of Banking Board and the Jonesboro University Heights Lions Club. He is a past board member of the Arkansas Bankers Association, Jonesboro's City Youth Ministries, past treasurer of the Boy Scouts of America Eastern Arkansas Council, and past finance committee chairman for the American Red Cross Board. He was a member of the Jonesboro Public Schools Board of Education from 1989-95 and is a former member of the City Water & Light board. In 1980, he was named the Jonesboro Jaycees Outstanding Young Man.
He is an active alumnus of Kappa Alpha Order having served on the Building Corporation Board from 1974 to 2008 and previously as alumni advisor for ASU's Delta Eta Chapter. His guidance helped KA become one of the most stable Greek organizations on campus. He is a member of Kappa Alpha's Hamer & Feller Courts of Honor.
He and his wife Martha Wofford McFerron '71 endowed the Martha W. McFerron ASU Cheerleading Scholarship in 1997. They have a son, Matt, of New Orleans, LA.
Since 1984, the Alumni Association’s board of directors annually selects award recipients from nominations submitted by the public. Selection of nominees is based on community service, professional achievement and service to ASU. For more information, contact the ASU Alumni office at 870-972-ALUM (2586) or e-mail alumni@astate.edu.
