News

UA - Pulaski Tech Chancellor Ellibee announces retirement

Dr. Margaret Ellibee, Chancellor of University of Arkansas Pulaski Technical College, today announced her retirement from the college, effective June 30, 2022.

Dr. Ellibee has led the college since becoming president of then-Pulaski Technical College on August 1, 2012. Her title changed to Chancellor with the college’s merger with the University of Arkansas System Feb. 1, 2017.

“It has been a distinct privilege to work with my UA-PTC friends and colleagues for the past 10 years.” Dr. Ellibee said. “This honor has always been about collaborating and achieving for our students, supporting faculty and staff with their significant work, and ensuring the greater good of UA-PTC here in Arkansas.”

“Those efforts are really what a meaningful career is about. It’s about serving on a team that helps others with the end goal of contributing to a greater good; something positive that’s bigger than each of us individually yet takes all to accomplish successfully. I extend my sincere thanks to my colleagues for allowing me to serve as Chancellor. We have accomplished much, and I am confident the UA-PTC family will continue that success in the future”

University of Arkansas System President Dr. Donald R. Bobbitt said Ellibee’s contributions and work ethic will be missed.

“I had the pleasure of working very closely with Dr. Ellibee during the institution’s integration into the UA System and it was very apparent that any decision on the table always involved putting students, community and her faculty and staff first,” Bobbitt said. “UA-PTC has made tremendous strides under her leadership and it is set up for a bright future because of her dedication and commitment to serving students while always working as a team.”

Bobbitt said a search committee will be formed in the coming weeks to begin the process of finding Ellibee’s successor.

Dr. Ellibee is a Wisconsin native and earned a Bachelor of Science in agricultural education from Iowa State University in 1983. Her first role as a professional educator was teaching vocational agriculture at Stuttgart High School from 1983 to 1986. After completing a Master of Science in general agriculture from the University of Arkansas where she had received a teaching assistantship in Fayetteville at the University of Arkansas’ agricultural education program, Dr. Ellibee went on to earn a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Administration from the University of Wisconsin in 1995.

She has worked as an agricultural education consultant for the Iowa Department of Education, and as coordinator for innovative programming and research at the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education.

Before joining UA - Pulaski Tech, Dr. Ellibee served as vice president for strategic effectiveness and advancement at Waukesha County Technical College in Wisconsin from 2007 until 2012. Before that, she served as state director for career and technical education with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Dr. Ellibee is the fourth person to lead the institution since it became a college in 1992. She is a Board member of the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce; Board member of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce; Board member of the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame; and Board member of the Goodwill Excel Center.