Meet the Provost
Dr. Shadow JQ Robinson
Dr. Shadow JQ Robinson was appointed provost of the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith effective July 1, 2022, following a comprehensive national search.
He comes to UAFS from the University of Tennessee at Martin, where he served as dean of the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences from 2018 to 2022. While serving as the college’s chief academic officer, he led multiple institution-altering initiatives, including the design and construction of the new Latimer Engineering and Science building, a $65 million, 120,000-sq-ft lab and classroom facility. Ha also oversaw the programming, visioning, and fundraising for the Tennessee Entrepreneurial Science and Technology Hub. TEST Hub is an $18 million facility developed in partnership between industry and multiple educational institutions. It focuses on meeting workforce and economic development needs in West Tennessee.
Robinson has been actively engaged in cross-campus collaboration, co-chairing the strategic planning implementation team focused on academic excellence, developing a university-wide strategic enrollment plan, and supporting the strategy and philanthropic operations of the university’s advancement office.
Before working at UT Martin, he held visiting positions at Lexington Community College and Eastern Kentucky University before joining the faculty at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, Indiana, in 2003. There he earned the Outstanding Teaching by New Faculty Award in 2008. At Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, he served as department chair, director of the James Observatory, director of the Compass Curriculum, and Faculty Council president.
Robinson has taught thousands of students throughout his academic career and published more than 50 research articles in various international journals in nuclear physics while receiving awards for his work in the classroom and as a campus leader.
Robinson was born and raised in rural eastern Kentucky and began his academic career at just 14, setting aside his dream of being a professional basketball player and concert pianist to follow in the footsteps of newly found heroes Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. He took classes in the physics and math departments at the University of Kentucky. He enrolled full-time at age 16, earning bachelor’s degrees with honors in physics and astronomy and in mathematics. He completed his Ph.D. in theoretical nuclear physics in 2002.
He is an avid reader and writer. Among his favorite authors, Tolstoy, Tolkien, and Proust are particular areas of delight. Robinson sharpens his skills as a writer by composing a 50,000-word novel from scratch each November as part of National Novel Writing Month. Though he once aspired to play professional sports, he now enjoys them from the sidelines and can be found cheering on the Lions with his wife Jennifer and teenage son Elijah.
Dr. Robinson’s full CV is available here