Arkansas Tech University fired its president, Robin E. Bowen, without cause Saturday three months into a medical leave she began after a scheduled surgery.
“The board is grateful for the services Dr. Bowen has provided to Arkansas Tech during her tenure,” Jim Smith, chairman of the university’s Board of Trustees, said in a prepared statement. “We do not take this action lightly and appreciate all she has done as president at Arkansas Tech.”
The board offered no reason for its decision. Its statement said that it was providing 60 days’ notice of its intent to dismiss Bowen without cause, and that the acting interim president, Russell Jones, would lead in the meantime. Bowen, appointed in 2018, was the first woman named to lead a four-year university in Arkansas, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
