Retirements

jeannie abbott

dick ellis

janet ferguson

kai togami

JEANNIE ABBOTT—22 YEARS

Jeannie Abbott has been at JBU since December 2000. Charles Peer and Dave Andrus hired her when the art department was on the third floor of the Cathedral with 30 students. Since that time, the department has grown with eight full-time faculty and 180 students. She has loved her interaction with the faculty and students and especially enjoyed organizing and going on European Art Tours. Her primary task has been to organize notoriously right-brained artists.

Jeannie and her husband Steve have no plans to leave Northwest Arkansas as two of their sons and grandkids live in the area. They both love to travel and are looking forward to future ministry that the Lord will provide.

DICK ELLIS—29 YEARS

Dick Ellis came to JBU in 1993 to start an adult degree completion program, which he named “The Advance Program.” In 2004, he became the dean of graduate and professional studies and later the dean of The Graduate School. He was the project director for the Title III grant that created JBU’s undergraduate online degree programs, which eventually became JBU Online.

He completed his service to JBU as the dean of the college of education and social and behavioral sciences. In all his roles, Dick found joy in assisting others to be successful “on the front lines” while he worked behind the scenes.

Dick and his wife Carol look forward to retirement in Northwest Arkansas, enjoying time with their grandchildren and attending student performances at the BPAC whenever possible.

JANET FERGUSON—41 YEARS

Janet Ferguson started working in the library in August 1981 as a library clerk. A year or so after she started, she also became a part-time student. After a few years, her title changed to periodical coordinator.

After she graduated from JBU, she was promoted to administrative database/ technical coordinator, then to library operation coordinator, the title she now carries into retirement. She also served as interim library director two different times – once in the fall semester of 2019 and then the full year of 2020-2021.

After working 41 years, Janet said it is time to start new adventures. She wants to do a little more camping, some travel and spend more time with family. She is currently caring for her parents, so her retirement will allow her to be able to spend extra time with them and listen to stories of their lives to pass on to Janet’s nine grandchildren.

KAI TOGAMI—7 YEARS

Kai Togami joined JBU in June 2015 as a professor of international business and the department head for graduate business programs after investing 25+ years in organization effectiveness and design for ServiceMaster, Neumann Homes and Walmart. In June 2017, he became the Sam Walton Fellow for JBU Enactus while continuing to teach. In his role as a Fellow, he served as advisor for Enactus and enjoyed seeing students collaborate to apply learning to sustainably benefit others.

Kai’s students describe him as supportive, encouraging, patient, enthusiastic, wise, fun and always smiling. With kids and grandkids in Northwest Arkansas, Kai and his wife, Wendy, plan to stay in the area and stay connected to Siloam and JBU in particular.