November 5, 2007
Lyon College News Bureau
Skip Rutherford to preview 2008 presidential election Wednesday
The 2008 presidential election will be the first since 1928 without a sitting president or vice president on the ballot, and a man with a deep reservoir of political savvy and experience will visit the campus Wednesday to preview the election.
Skip Rutherford, a member of the Lyon College Board of Trustees, and Dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service has taught courses at Lyon on the 2002, 2004 and 2006 elections.
At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7, he’ll present his program, “An Early Look at the 2008 Election,” in Nucor Auditorium. A reception will follow in the Mabee-Simpson Library. The event is free and open to the public.
With Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), a former Arkansas first lady, and former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) both running for the office of U.S. President, Arkansas is once again in the national political limelight.
Skip Rutherford of Little Rock is Dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School (UACS). UACS, which opened in 2005, located on the grounds of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is the only school in the country offering a Master’s degree in public service.
Prior to joining the Clinton School, Rutherford served as Executive Vice President of Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods (CJRW), one of the region’s largest communications firms. In addition, he served as Chairman of the Board of the William J. Clinton Foundation from 1997-2006, stepping down from the chairmanship when he accepted the UACS position in May 2006. He remains a Clinton Foundation board member. From 1997 until it opened in 2004, Rutherford also supervised the planning for the Clinton Presidential Library.
He is a former administrative assistant to United States Senator David Pryor, (D-AR), past president of the Little Rock School Board and has been active in numerous campaigns and initiatives at the local, state and federal levels.
A 1972 journalism graduate from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, he received the Journalism Department’s first Distinguished Alumnus Award. He has served as a visiting professor at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas; Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas; the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas; and the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas.
He is the founder and organizer of the Political Animals Club, a non-partisan grassroots organization of community leaders and activists who meet regularly to discuss politics and issues.
Skip Rutherford