Earnest Fant, Industrial Engineering Professor, Dies at 73

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Earnest Fant

Earnest W. Fant, associate professor of industrial engineering, died Thursday, Nov. 7 at his home in Fayetteville. Fant was 73 years old. He had taught in the industrial engineering department since 1988.

"Earnest Fant was a beloved teacher to many students, and he will be remembered in the College of Engineering for his endless energy and optimism," said John English, dean of engineering. "We are mourning a colleague and friend, and thinking of his family at this sad time."

Industrial engineering students honored Fant with the Mother Goose Award for exceptional storytelling in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2011. He taught several popular electives within the industrial engineering department, which have had broad appeal across the college, including courses in renewable energy, robotics and machine vision. 

Fant served as the principal investigator on several research projects sponsored by the Red River Army Depot for the Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution, an applied research and education consortium. A service project he initiated, the Photovoltaic Array Seminar, led students and community members through the process of setting up solar arrays and connecting them to the electrical grid.

Fant received a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the University of Arkansas in 1963, a master's degree from Southern Methodist University and a doctorate from Texas Tech. He served in the U.S. Army and the Texas National Guard.

He is survived by his wife, Georgie Fant; daughter Laura Hoisington and her husband Jeff of Stillwater, Okla.; son John M. Fant and his wife Phyllis of Hackett, Arkansas; sister Tanya Berkley of Fort Smith, Ark.; brother Jim Fant of Roland, Okla. (a 1965 industrial engineering alumnus); six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.