The Honors College selects an executive board for the Student Ambassador Program

The Honors College is pleased to announce the composition of the first executive board for the College’s Ambassador Service Program. The board consists of six officers, including standouts Aisha Al-Rizza, Meg Bozart, Jenna Kempkes, Ben Walworth, Ria Collins, Anna Johnson and Tracy Tanner, who will serve in the 2022-23 school year.

The Executive Board will lead the Honors College Ambassadors service program, which has been on campus for more than 15 years. Ambassadors promote the various opportunities available through the Honors College, from networking with prospective students to volunteering at workshops for current students. In addition to managing the day-to-day operations of the program, the board will also facilitate volunteering for fellow student ambassadors who support the Honors College and outside organizations.

“The Executive Board adds an important new dimension to the Honors Ambassadors program,” said Chelsea Hodge, director of grants and research innovation, who oversees the program. “The Executive Board is working to expand the program to integrate service, leadership and community to make it more useful. The perspective of the officers as students, combined with their extensive experience on campus, makes them invaluable to the growth and success of this program. I’m excited to see what they do!”

Officers of the Executive Board

The president is Aisha Al-Rizzo
Aisha Al-Rizzo, a junior in the Honors College from Little Rock, majoring in biology and minoring in health sciences with a pre-medical concentration. Along with his academic duties, Al-Rizzo participates in the Kumar and Family and Community Intervention labs under the direction of his research professors, investigating fibroblast growth factors and their biomedical applications, as well as autism spectrum and disruptive behaviors in children and adolescents. . She is active in the Arab Student Association, an organization she co-founded in 2021 to bring together students from the Middle East and North Africa and other backgrounds to encourage a more open forum. Al-Rizza also teaches University Chemistry II and is a member of Alpha Epsilon Delta: Arkansas Alpha, a pre-medical honor society at the University of Arkansas.

Vice President of Operations is Meg Bozart
Meg Bozart is a junior from Bolingbrook, Illinois majoring in civil engineering and French with a minor in mathematics. While at the U of A, Bozart was involved in student ministries and professional engineering organizations, founded an RSO for the disabled community, and researched water treatment and quality measurement at a pilot plant in Colorado.

Vice President of Communications is Jenna Kempkes
Jenova (Jenna) Kempkes is a junior from Lincoln, Nebraska majoring in biomedical engineering with a premedical concentration. She is active in Army ROTC, Medical Humanities, Health Professions Association, and the Study Abroad Ambassador Program. Her goal is to do emergency medical care in the army.

Secretary — Ben Walworth
Ben Walworth is a Toler College Honors Research Associate from Branson, Missouri, majoring in marketing and minoring in communication and nonprofit studies. Walworth is active in several organizations on campus, including the Center for Volunteer Action, the Distinguished Lecture Committee, the One Book One Community Committee, and the Walton Student Awards Executive Board. Off campus, he volunteers at the Walton Arts Center. Walworth currently serves as a Developmental Honors College Intern and has previously interned at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the United Way of Northwest Arkansas, and the Taneyhills Library.

Treasurer — Ria Collins
Ria Collins is a sophomore honors college student from Bentonville. She is studying business economics and accounting with a minor in political science. Collins is a member of the Dean’s Student Engagement Team in the Sam M. Walton College of Business and served as an Honors College social media intern last year. She hopes to help students get involved on campus, find classes and majors at Walton College, and connect with the Honors College staff to advance their academic and future careers.

Director of Information Work — Anna Johnson
Anna Johnson is a junior from Lenexa, Kansas, majoring in chemistry and minoring in health sciences. She plans to pursue a career in medicine. On campus, Johnson participates in the Passionate About Literacy program through the Center for Volunteer Action and the Premedical Honors Society. She is also a member of the Coridan Laboratory Group in the Department of Chemistry. Outside of class, she spends her time working at an eye clinic, volunteering, and hiking.

Director of Engagement is Tracy Tanner
Tracy Tanner is a senior from Northeast Arkansas studying accounting, finance and information systems. She is involved in several accounting and finance RSOs, university organizations such as IFriend and Empower, and serves as a Study Abroad student ambassador. She is currently writing her dissertation on an internship she completed last summer in Bank OZK’s dedicated real estate group with the help of her dissertation supervisor, Molly Ruppert, Associate Professor of Marketing. She wants to help students get involved and connect across campus!