Ouachita Stories

Brooke Zimny, assistant director of communications for Ouachita Baptist University, has been named one of “20 to Watch in 2011” by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Tri-Lakes edition.

The 20 individuals honored for the recognition were cited for making a difference in their communities and careers. According to Tri-Lakes, this year’s recipients share “a passion to give of themselves to leave the world a better place.” The paper’s special section published Jan. 30 added that “we believe you will hear their names in the future, or at least see the results of their efforts.”

Zimny, a 2008 summa cum laude graduate of Ouachita, was named the university's Overall Academic Achiever, Ouachita's highest academic honor. She has served since the fall of 2008 as assistant director of communications. In that role, she supervises the work of the OBU News Bureau, serves as associate editor of The Ouachita Circle alumni magazine and is involved in a variety of news and graphic design projects for the university.  She also helps coordinate Ouachita’s annual “Spotlight on Arkadelphia” community business fair and served last fall as a “Thursdays@10: The Ouachita Experience” instructor during Ouachita’s inaugural freshman orientation seminar.

Describing her role at Ouachita, Zimny noted, “I get to have my hand in so many aspects of the university and do different things like writing and graphic design. I feel like my job is more about enabling people to make a difference, giving them the resources that they need to get their message across.”

“We are pleased with Brooke’s well-deserved recognition as one of ’20 to Watch,’” said Trennis Henderson, OBU vice president for communications. “Brooke does a tremendous job representing Ouachita through the Office of Communications. Her personal and professional skills and positive attitude have gained the respect and appreciation of colleagues throughout campus.”

Zimny’s leadership on the collegiate level included serving as president of the EEE women's social club, secretary of the Campus Activities Board and editor of “Scope” literary journal. She was named to Who’s Who among Students in American Universities and Colleges and completed the Columbia Publishing Course, an intensive summer course on book and magazine publishing, at Columbia University in 2008. Zimny also was a member of Alpha Chi national honor society, Sigma Tau Delta international English honor society and Psi Chi national honor society in psychology.

Zimny, a 2004 graduate of Searcy High School, is the daughter of Dr. Ken and Bobbi Showalter of Searcy. Her husband, René Zimny, is assistant director of Ouachita’s Grant Center for International Education.

Ouachita Baptist University, a private Christian university in Arkadelphia, Ark., currently enrolls 1,500 students from more than 30 states and 40 nations. Celebrating its 125^th anniversary as a quality liberal arts university, Ouachita has served since 1886 as a Christ-centered learning community. For more information, call 1-800-DIAL-OBU or visit www.obu.edu.