Three University Leaders Named 'Women of Influence'

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Kathy Deck, Bev Lewis and Cynthia Nance

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Three University of Arkansas leaders have been honored as “Women of Influence” by Arkansas Business. Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research in the Sam M. Walton College of Business; Bev Lewis, executive associate athletic director and associate vice chancellor; and Cynthia Nance, dean and professor of the School of Law, were among the 20 influential women selected by the Arkansas Business editorial staff and featured alphabetically in the journal’s March 29 edition.

“Kathy Deck, Bev Lewis and Dean Nance are three colleagues who set and maintain the highest standards in their respective fields,” said Chancellor G. David Gearhart. “It is a pleasure to see these colleagues get the recognition they deserve for their accomplishments and continuing impact here at the university and in the state as a whole. I also want to congratulate all of the honorees, most of whom have a very close relationship with the University of Arkansas and have been extraordinary of this institution.”

Kathy Deck

Deck joined the Walton College as a research associate in the Center for Business and Economic Research in 2001. She advanced to associate director and became the center director in 2007.

Her mission is to provide the most current economic information and timely relevant projections and analysis to help business and community leaders make better decisions. In providing applied economic research as part of the Walton College outreach mission, the center sponsors the annual Business Forecast luncheon and Quarterly Business Analysis and Arkansas Economic Issues breakfasts. Deck has managed studies for a wide variety of clients, including Arvest Bank Group, Chesapeake Energy, the Jones Center for Families, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and the University of Arkansas. She is recognized as an expert who has her fingers on the pulse of the Arkansas and national economy, and she is frequently quoted in the local and regional media about economic trends and specific sectors of the economy.

Deck earned a bachelor of arts in economics from the College of William and Mary and a master of science in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before joining the Center for Business and Economic Research, she was the antitrust economist for the Arizona attorney general.

Bev Lewis

Lewis has been synonymous with the University of Arkansas and Razorback sports teams for almost three decades. In her current role, she is the coordinator of a five-member sport administrator group that provides day-to-day administrative support for each of Arkansas’ 19 sports.

Lewis is the sport administrator for women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s track and field, men’s and women’s golf, gymnastics, softball and volleyball. In addition, she is the primary administrator working with the Razorbacks’ media relations, new media, strength and conditioning units and athletic training and sports medicine program. She also serves as a liaison to the faculty senate and the faculty athletic committee, and coordinates the department’s NCAA certification, Title IX compliance and strategic planning.

Lewis began her Razorback career as the women's cross country and track and field coach leading her teams to six top 20 national finishes. Lewis also coached Arkansas’ first conference championship team at the 1988 Southwest Conference Cross Country Championships. As a result, her peers voted her SWC Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. She also was named SWC Outdoor Track Coach of the Year in 1989. Lewis transitioned into administration serving as the Director of Athletics for the separate Razorback Women’s Athletics programs until the departments unified in 2008.

Lewis earned her bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan in 1979 and followed it with her master’s from Purdue prior to her arrival at Arkansas in 1981.

Cynthia Nance

Nance joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1994 and focused her teaching and research on labor and employment law, poverty law and torts. She was named dean of the law school in 2006, the first woman and first African-American to hold the position. Nance was a recipient of a 2007 American Association for Affirmative Action Arthur A. Fletcher Award and the 2006 NIA Professional Achievement Award.

She also was honored as the 2005 Arkansas Bar Association Outstanding Lawyer-Citizen. In 2009, she was named one of Arkansas’ 12 “Most Powerful Women” by AY magazine and was the recipient of the T.E. Patterson Education Award from the Arkansas Democratic Black Caucus. In addition, she visited Ukraine for eight days on behalf of the U.S. Department of State to meet with dignitaries and present lectures on topics ranging from the rule of law to the American civil rights movement.

Nance earned her Juris Doctor with distinction and Master of Arts in finance from the University of Iowa. Prior to teaching law, Dean Nance worked as a labor educator at the University of Iowa Labor Center and was a faculty fellow in the law school. She is co-chair of the American Bar Association's Section of Labor & Employment Law: Ethics & Professional Responsibility Committee and past chair of the American Association of Law Schools’ Employment Discrimination and Labor and Employment Law Sections. In 2004, Nance received the University of Arkansas Alumni Association's Faculty Distinguished Achievement Award for Public Service.