Richard Dunsworth, J.D., To Receive 12th Annual Courageous Leadership Award

Dunsworth to Receive Credo’s 2025 Courageous Leadership Award

The award will be presented at the Council for Independent Colleges’ (CIC) Presidents Institute Presidential Appreciation Dinner, to be held Jan. 5 in San Antonio, Texas.

Leadership and Growth Under President Dunsworth’s Guidance

Dunsworth became the 25th president of U of O on June 1, 2013. Under his leadership, enrollment grew by more than 30%. The University has raised $113 million for new facilities, scholarships, and programs. Ozarks has also significantly expanded its academic and athletic offerings.

“Rich is a compelling leader who sees potential in everyone with whom he comes into contact. At the same time, he sets high standards for excellence, achievement, and outcomes, and inspires others to reach for and achieve those goals. Rich is a student-learning-first president, centering his own calling and that of his board and team to keep service to students at the heart of their daily work. Throughout his presidency, Rich has created and led through vision and strategy that encompasses both head and heart.”

Dr. Joretta Nelson, Credo’s vice chairman

A first-generation college graduate, Dunsworth has worked tirelessly to make an Ozarks education both affordable and accessible. Under his leadership, the University has frozen tuition in nine of the past 10 years and provided $10.8 million annually in scholarship support. As a result, the University has been recognized as the No. 1 “Best Value” institution in the 12-state South region by U.S. News & World Report for the last two years.

“The Courageous Leadership Award is yet another testament to President Dunsworth’s steadfast commitment to providing a high-quality university experience for all students,” said Susan Pinson, chair of the U of O Board of Trustees. “He works with his leadership team to maximize funding programs, grants, and other opportunities to ensure students have the resources and tools necessary to engage in and graduate from University of the Ozarks prepared to contribute to their communities.”

Susan Pinson, chair of the U of O Board of Trustees

Ozarks graduates are finding success after graduation as evidenced by the fact that over the past eight years, the employment and graduate school placement success rate of U of O graduates is 95 percent.

“Our graduates are tenacious,” Dunsworth said. “They’re gritty, diligent and upon graduation they have the skills and abilities to be hired, to get into grad school, and to do the types of things they set out to do when they enrolled at Ozarks. The other factor is that our faculty know why we’re here. We’re here to educate students, transform their lives, and put them on a trajectory that a bachelor’s degree is intended to provide.”

President Dunsworth with student ambassadors.

Enhancing Campus Facilities and Community Relations

Dunsworth has also spearheaded the enhancement of campus facilities during his tenure, including a major renovation of Munger-Wilson Chapel, the completion of the new Wilson Science Center and Wilson Athletic Complex, and the current construction of the largest facility project in University history, a new $27 million residence hall. 

Beyond academics, Dunsworth has played a crucial role in enhancing campus life and strengthening the relationship between Ozarks and the local community.

"Rich Dunsworth has been a colleague and mentor for the last decade as I have journeyed through higher education leadership. His broad knowledge and experience as well as his generosity have been vital to my own development. He has, I believe, a great love of University of the Ozarks which is grounded in his commitment to students and his fierce desire to provide higher education access to those with barriers. Higher education for him has this beautiful transformative power that should be experienced by as many as possible. For all of this, he is a gifted higher ed leader.”

Dr. Travis Feezell, Credo Senior Consultant and former Provost and Chief Academic Officer at U of O

Dunsworth engages students on campus mall

Dunsworth’s Broader Impact on Higher Education

Dunsworth was elected chair of the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) Board of Trustees in September. He first joined the nation’s largest institutional accrediting agency as a peer reviewer in 2007 and was elected in 2018 to an initial four-year term on the HLC Board of Trustees.

He previously served on the NCAA DIII President’s Council and on the board of directors for the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities. He is the past chair of the President’s Council of the Arkansas Independent Colleges and Universities (AICU). Earlier this year, he was named a finalist by Arkansas Business in the publication’s 2024 statewide Executive of the Year award. In 2023, he was awarded the prestigious Pillar of Progress Award from the Clarksville-Johnson County Chamber of Commerce.

Dunsworth walks with students to spring commencement.

A Legacy of Leadership and Dedication to Higher Education

Before joining Ozarks, Dunsworth was an administrator for 22 years at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, where he served as interim president and vice president for enrollment.

A native of Colorado, Dunsworth earned a bachelor of arts in political science from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, becoming the first person in his family to obtain a college degree. He went on to earn a master's degree in education in 1994 from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston and a juris doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2002. He also earned certification from the institute for educational management program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2008. 

Dunsworth’s career reflects his unwavering dedication to higher education and his lasting impact on the University of the Ozarks and the surrounding community.

Dunsworth meets with students

Previous Recipients of the Courageous Leadership Award:  

• 2024 | Barbara Farley, Illinois College
• 2023 | Burton Webb, University of Pikeville 
• 2022 | Tiffany Franks, Averett University 
• 2021 | Mary Hinton, Hollins University 
• 2020 | Tom Flynn, Alvernia University 
• 2019 | Amy Novak, Dakota Wesleyan University 
• 2018 | Daniel Elsener, Marian University 
• 2017 | Kim Phipps, Messiah College 
• 2016 | Mary Meehan, Alverno College 
• 2015 | Mark Lombardi, Maryville University 
• 2014 | Joanne Soliday, Credo 

• *To be considered for the Credo Courageous Leadership Award, a leader need not be a current or past Credo client.