ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
 
 

September 2008


 
Bill A. Dixon
 
Class of 1957


   Bill Dixon grew up in Habersham, Georgia, and graduated from Truett-McConnell College in 1957.   He continued his education, earning a degree in biology from Carson-Newman College (TN) and doing graduate work at George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University (TN). He served as a biology faculty member at Truett-McConnell College (GA) and at Belmont University (TN) before joining the administrative staff at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, in 1970.
 
   For thirty-three years Bill served as Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Services at Ouachita.  During his tenure there, he was active in both regional and national student development organizations, and in 1979, he helped to organize the Baptist Association for Student Affairs (BASA), a national organization for student affairs professionals in Baptist-related colleges and universities.  He also helped to organize the Association for Chief Student Service Officers (ACSS) in Arkansas, a group of chief administrators in the private and public colleges and universities in Arkansas. 
 
   During his work with BASA, he was given the Educator of the Year award in 1982.  The Educator of the Year Award was named in his honor in 1999, and he was given the BASA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000.  Ouachita University honored him with its Elrod Center Community Service Excellence Award in 2003.
 
   Bill has been a presenter at conferences for BASA, the National Entertainment Council (NEC), SWASPA and other regional and local organizations.  He has published articles related to student life in religious publications.  He has served as a consultant for University Loft Company, one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of campus furniture.  He has participated in academic projects at Peking University in Beijing, China, and at Tashkent State University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
 
   Bill is a member of First Baptist Church, Arkadelphia, where he has served as deacon, committeeman and Sunday School teacher.  Bill and his wife have been active in missions in Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and the Brazilian Amazon.
 
   In 2000, three years before his retirement, he began the Ouachita International Travel  Program and since that time has led 23 international tours to Asia, Africa, South and Central America and Europe.   In retirement he still plans three to four international trips per year. He worked for an additional three years after his 2003 retirement (2003-2006) with the Ouachita International program before his second retirement.
 
   Bill has been married to his wife, Snookie, for 44 years, and they have two married sons. One lives in Chicago with their four granddaughters, and one lives near his parents.  Snookie served as Minister of Education at First Baptist Church of Arkadelphia for 21 years prior to her retirement.
 
   Contact Bill at 106 North 5th Street, Arkadelphia, AR 71923; his phone numbers are (870) 246-7271 (home) and (870) 245-8804 (cell).  You may also e-mail him at dixonb@obu.edu
 
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