Dr. Ruth Couch Day is celebrated on September 23 each year at Arkansas State University-Beebe. This day is a celebration of her legacy in education and community service impacting many future generations a ASU-Beebe.
In her honor, the public is invited to a ribbon cutting ceremony for the ASU-Beebe Outstanding Alumni Wall at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 23, followed by a drop-inreception in the Ruth L. Couch Center at 210 Palm Street on the Beebe campus.
Dr.Ruth Lazelle Couch, of Beebe, was born on Sept. 23, 1936 in Magnolia and passed away on July 26, 2014.
After graduating high school, she attended Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia,where she received a Bachelor of Science in Education in just three years. After receiving her bachelor’s degree, Dr. Couch taught in El Dorado and Magnolia public school districts for more than nine years. She earned a master’s degree from Henderson State University.
In1971, Dr. Ruth Couch began her 32-year career at ASU-Beebe as an assistant professor in English. In 1975, she received her doctorate from Oklahoma State University, making her the first woman on the ASU-Beebe faculty to receive a doctorate and the first faculty to attain full professor at the college. She then served as division chair, and in 1994 was appointed to serve as the vice chancellor for Academic Affairs.
Dr.Couch was a member of the editorial board for a professional journal called The Community College Enterprise. In 1976, she joined Delta Kappa Gamma, a professional honor society for women educators and held several Delta Kappa Gamma offices, also serving as chairwoman of the society's state leadership committee.
She was active in the Business and Professional Women's Association, in which she held a variety of offices - including state president - and the SouthwestRegional Conference on the Teaching of English.
From1982 to 2004, Dr. Couch served on the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools as a consultant evaluator. She visited approximately 30 higher education institutions to assist with evaluations for accreditation.
Dr.Couch retired from ASU-Beebe in 2003 and worked the next ten years as the director of the Beebe Chamber of Commerce. She remained active on the ASU-Beebe Development Council, Adult Education Advisory Board, Shepherd’s Center Board and the Beebe Economic Development Commission, while returning to the classroom as an adjunct instructor at ASU-Beebe.
At ASU-Beebe, Dr. Couch furnished a faculty workroom in the library, and purchased chimes that are located in the Science Building, which continue to ring daily on the hour. In 2005, the Ruth L. Couch Center, which houses the Institutional Advancement offices, was named in her honor for her many generous contributions to the college.
In her spare time, Dr. Couch enjoyed writing and had several works published over the years. The ASU-Beebe Abington Library has several of her publications available, including “Women and Thomas Hardy” (1975), “This Land of Legend: Arkansas Poems” (1992), and a novel “No Bells Will Ring” (2009), which she also recorded on audio in 2010 for Arkansas Information Reading Services for the Blind (AIRS).
She also helped collect oral histories of ASU-Beebe and wrote historical booklets about changes in some communities that she found of particular interest. These included "The Academic Americana Heritage of the Antioch and Floyd Schools," and "The Noble Heritage of Harvey C. Couch School in Calhoun, Arkansas."
Dr.Couch’s support and encouragement of her students over the years led her toestablish the Ruth Couch Endowment Scholarship in 2005.
Dr.Couch said “To know that I’ve had a part in students’ success and helpingstudents to develop a good self-concept is the most rewarding and satisfyingachievement to me as an educator.”
For more information about Dr. Ruth Couch, contact the Institutional Advancement Office at (501) 882-8855. For more information about ASU-Beebe private scholarships or how to become a donor, view the following link: www.giveasub.com/scholarship.
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