About
Ouachita Baptist University is definitely a family affair for the Roots. Dr. Root
first stepped onto Ouachita's campus as a three-year-old in 1964 when his father,
Dr. Paul Root, joined the history faculty. His mother, Mary Root, earned a master's
degree at Ouachita a few years later, and his brother, Larry, earned a bachelor's
degree in 1980. Jeff followed with a degree in 1983, the same year his wife, Dr. Deborah
Root, completed a master’s at Ouachita and two years after she earned her bachelor’s.
Drs. Jeff and Deborah Root returned to join the Ouachita faculty and staff in 1991
and were excited to see their daughter and son-in-law, Abby and Stephen Curry, also
graduate from Ouachita.
"This place is more than home to us. It's where God has called us to do His work,"
Root said.
Fun Facts
Dr. Jeff Root's wife, Dr. Deborah Root, was the yearbook editor when he met her, and
he was two months away from taking the reins as editor of the campus newspaper. Since
1991, Deborah has been the Ouachitonian yearbook adviser, and Jeff has been the adviser to the Signal newspaper. Some things just fit.
Areas of Expertise
Although hired as a faculty member, Dr. Root also served as director of public relations
under President Ben Elrod and assistant to the president for public relations under
President Andrew Westmoreland. Dr. Root teaches public relations on the strength of
11 years in that role. His master's in history also is instrumental in a senior-level
reading seminar he has taught for many years.
Another favorite field of Dr. Root is sports media, where he also has many years of
experience. He says, "I have served with a wonderful group of scholars and teachers
as dean of the School of Humanities since 2002."
In 2016, Dr. Root stepped in as interim dean of the Huckabee School of Education.
As a former high school social studies and journalism teacher and a longtime school
board member, Dr. Root found the work rewarding both because of the missions of teacher
education and kinesiology and for the team atmosphere of the faculty in those departments.
The "interim" part of the title was removed the following year, and it is now his
pleasure to continue to work with the students and faculty in the Huckabee School.
Involvement
- Deans Council
- Applied Behavior Analysis Advisory Council
- Board of Arkansas Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
- Council of Education Deans
- Arkadelphia Board of Education
- Ouachita Football Network
- Arkadelphia Badgers Play-by-Play
- Ouachita Sports Digital Network
- Arkansas Humanities Council (former, past chair)
