The Arkansas State University Alumni Association will honor three outstanding alumni in its 20th year of recognizing distinguished alumni.

Jack Fleischauer	Jim Pickens	John Woodside

Honorees to be recognized this year include Jack Fleischauer and Jim Pickens, both of Little Rock; and John Woodside of Lufkin, Texas. The ceremony will be held during halftime of the homecoming football game on Saturday, Sept. 13, at Indian Stadium on the ASU campus. The Indians will play host to Southeast Missouri State University at 6 p.m.

The ASU Alumni Association’s board of directors selects the distinguished alumni recipients from nominations submitted by the public. Selection of the nominees is based on professional achievement, community service and service to ASU.

The mission of the Alumni Association is to focus its efforts on “partnerships that involve alumni in the life and work of Arkansas State University.”

Jack Fleischauer

John I. “Jack” Fleischauer Jr., president of the Western Region of Regions Financial Corp., attended Arkansas State University after spending one year at the University of Central Arkansas.

A graduate of the School of Marketing at the University of Colorado and the Southwest Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Fleischauer is a member of the executive management team of Regions. The Birmingham, Ala., corporation is a Fortune 500 company and one of the 25 largest financial service companies in the U.S. In his current role, he has oversight responsibilities for all of Regions Bank’s operations in Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Memphis, Tenn.

Fleischauer received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the ASU College of Business in 1992 and again in the spring of 2003. While the Little Rock native has lived in several areas of the state, he has always continued his strong support of ASU both in academics and athletics, including his current service on the ASU Foundation Board. Additionally, he is active in many community organizations and has been throughout his banking career.

Fleischauer has been with Regions, and its predecessor First Commercial Bank, since 1994, when he became president and chief executive officer of the Little Rock bank. Prior to joining Regions in 1994, Fleischauer was president and chief operating officer of Worthen National Bank of Arkansas. His career with Worthen Banking Corp. spanned 24 years, during which he served as chairman, president and CEO of Worthen National Bank in Hot Springs after also holding the same position at Peoples Bank & Trust Co. in Russellville.

Fleischauer has three children: a son, Robert, who lives in California, and two daughters Jennifer and Laura, both of whom live in Little Rock.

Jim Pickens

Jim Pickens received his degree in business administration from then Arkansas State College in 1959 before his service in the U.S. Army as 1st Lieutenant and then entering his career in the energy industry.

An advocate for Arkansas, especially Northeast Arkansas and ASU, Pickens has been influential in serving on numerous boards and committees in the region. As a former member of the ASU Board of Trustees, he often looks for opportunities to involve ASU in business development. In that vein, he fosters placement of fellow ASU alumni in business settings and is responsible for corporate associations’ gifts of money and materials.

As director of the Arkansas Department of Economic Development, Pickens played an instrumental role in the establishment of a Nestle USA frozen foods plant in Jonesboro.

Pickens previously served on the ASU Foundation Board and has been involved in fundraising for the Indian Club. In addition to being recognized by the Alumni Association this year, the ASU College of Business awarded Pickens their Distinguished Alumni Award in 1998.

Prior to his role as director at the ADED, Pickens held several positions during his 38 years of service with Entergy Arkansas, formerly Arkansas Power & Light Company. He retired from Entergy as Vice-President of Public Affairs.

In addition to his service on the ASU boards, he is chairman of the Pathfinders Foundation in Jacksonville; vice chairman of P.A.R.K., Positive Atmosphere Reaches Kids; and, serves on the CARTI Foundation Board.

He and his wife Sue have been married more than 40 years and have two children, Mike Pickens, and Sandy Noble of McKinney, Texas.

John Woodside

While John Woodside graduated from then Arkansas State College in 1936 with a degree in chemistry, his ties with the institution extend back to 1910 when his mother, Mable Symons Woodside, taught as one of the first faculty members at the State Agricultural School from 1910 to 1914.

After her death, Woodside established a scholarship endowment program in memory of his mother, which has provided financial aid to 42 students from the area of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. Currently, eight students are involved in the program.

Woodside continues to travel to ASU to meet personally with each new scholarship recipient. He has a strong belief in education, support of ASU and commitment to those who, without a scholarship, would not otherwise have the opportunity to pursue higher education.

He is a life member of the ASU Alumni Association and a member of the ASU Letterman Association. Additionally, he is a 60-year member of the American Chemical Society and 50-year member of the Kiwanis Club.

Woodside teaches math for General Education Degrees at Angelina Community College and is supervisor for ACT, SAT and TASP tests. Since his retirement in 1981, he has served as chairman of the Orange Housing Authority; chairman of the Port of Orange Economic Development Commission; Secretary-Treasurer of SCORE; and, he presently serves as chairman of the Investment Committee for the Texas Methodist Foundation. During his working career, Woodside served as both superintendent and/or manager of chemical plants in the U.S., Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Spain.

He and wife Donna have two daughters, Marianne Woodside of Knoxville, Tenn., and Gayle Woodside of Austin, Texas.

(for more information about Distinguished Alumni, contact Beth Smith, Director of Alumni Relations, 870-972-2586 or smitty@astate.edu.)

# # #