Dr. Janet Hugo, director of Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, has announced her retirement, effective June 30, 2012.
Hugo has been director of ASMSA for six years and prior to that served five years as the school’s dean of academic affairs.
“I am thankful for all of the support I have received during my tenure as the director of ASMSA. The amazing people at the school have made these years enjoyable and productive,” Hugo said. “I hope in some small way I have contributed to the growth and successes that the school has experienced.”
During her tenure Hugo was instrumental in upgrading the campus buildings, which were previously used as St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital and physician offices. In August 2010, Hugo joined Gov. Mike Beebe, the ASMSA faculty, staff, students and the Hot Springs community in celebrating the groundbreaking of a new $17.9 million Student Life Complex.
“Janet Hugo has done an incredible job as director of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts,” said Dr. B. Alan Sugg, president of the University of Arkansas System, which includes ASMSA. “I am grateful for her leadership and passion for the school’s unique mission and for our excellent students. She leaves an outstanding legacy, particularly with her efforts to raise funds and build the new Student Life Complex. Because of her vision and persistence this facility will serve the needs of ASMSA and its students for years to come.”
The new building will be dedicated in the spring of 2012 with students moving in to begin the new school year in August 2012.
The academic program for the residential school has benefitted from her dedication to education and good financial management. She has been able to improve the technological resources available for classrooms, the library, student research, and the faculty.
“The focus has always been on providing resources for the students first,” she said.
Hugo helped the school’s Office of Distance Education grow from a faculty of eight, to one of 32 teachers providing classes to more than 3,600 students in Arkansas and seven other states.
She also hired the school’s first director of institutional advancement to reorganize the ASMSA Foundation and to help increase awareness about the school, both locally and across the state. Through Hugo’s efforts, the school was able to secure a grant from Hot Springs Fifty for the Future to conduct a feasibility study for a capital campaign to raise money for campus improvements.
Former Sen. Steve Faris commended Hugo for her dedication to the school during the 2011 commencement ceremonies. Faris told the graduating seniors, “Carry the ASMSA mantel the way Dr. Hugo has carried it, as a symbol of pride and excellence.”
Incoming University of Arkansas System President Dr. Donald R. Bobbitt said a national search would begin soon with the goal of having a new director in place by July 1, 2012.
“I’m appreciative of Dr. Hugo’s excellent leadership of ASMSA,” Bobbitt said. “I look forward to working with the campus community to conduct a diligent search in order to find the very best person to lead the school in its important mission of educating some of our state’s brightest students in science, mathematics and the arts.”
About Janet Hugo, Ph.D.
Janet Hugo received her B.S. in rehabilitation education from Penn State University, her M.S. in gifted studies from Mississippi University for Women, and her Ph.D. in technology and education from Mississippi State University.
Her career in education began at Western Psychiatric Institute at the University of Pittsburgh. She also taught at the Mississippi University for Women in the graduate Division of Education. Prior to coming to ASMSA, she served as an adjunct mathematics instructor, outreach coordinator, and the director of academic affairs at the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science.
Hugo served as president of the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science, and Technology from 2006 to 2008.
She is the wife of Doug Hugo, the mother of Geoff and Joanna, and the proud grandmother of Nora and Charlie.