School Board
Board Members
Dr. Gary M. McHenry | Board Chair
Gary McHenry is director of education for the Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education, a Center on Aging affiliated with the University of Arkansas for Medical Science's Reynolds Institute on Aging. Dr. McHenry is responsible for the choice and delivery of the Center's education programs for health professionals, paraprofessionals, and the general public. Dr. McHenry also manages the center's Community Aging Resources, Education and Services project (CARES).
From 1996 to 2010, Dr. McHenry was director of credit studies for the University of Arkansas' School of Continuing Education and Academic Outreach. In that capacity he managed the delivery of University of Arkansas academic courses and programs through the Departments of Independent Study, Off-Campus Classes, and National/International Credit Studies.
Dr. McHenry has served in a number of university, public service, and non-profit organizations which include past-commissioner, past-regional chair, and past-board member of the University Continuing Education Association, past-chair of the Chamber of Commerce Leadership Fayetteville Education Committee, past-chair and current member of the Arkansas Fair Housing Commission, current chair of the Arkansas Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and current national program director for the Leadership Training Institute of America.
Dr. McHenry has a BS in mathematics from Southern Arkansas University, and an MS in computer science and EdD in workforce development from the University of Arkansas.
Jess Askew, III | Vice Chair
Jess Askew practices in the areas of business litigation, constitutional, media, and appellate law. His recent notable cases include Arkansas Blue Cross v. Little Rock Cardiology Clinic, 551 F. 3d 812 (2009), dealing with federal ancillary jurisdiction in a health-care case; Arkansas Democrat-Gazette v. District Court, Ark. S. Ct. No. 08-1435 (Dec. 18, 2008), establishing the availability of a writ of certiorari from a circuit court to an inferior court under Amendment 80 to the Arkansas Constitution; Cox v. Daniels, 374 Ark. 437 (2008), rejecting a ballot-title challenge to the Arkansas College Scholarship Lottery Amendment under Amendment 7 to the Arkansas Constitution; Pulaski County v. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc., 370 Ark. 459 (2007), affirming the right of access to emails of a public employee against privacy challenges; Beverly Enters. - Ark., Inc. v. Circuit Court, 367 Ark. 13 (2006), reversing a $25 million supersedeas requirement imposed by a trial judge in a class action and clarifying the law of supersedeas bonds, and Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. Sauer, 358 Ark. 89 (2004), and Advocat, Inc. v. Sauer, 353 Ark. 29 (2003), which together reduced by $51.5 million the largest personal injury judgment in the history of Arkansas.
A Little Rock native, Mr. Askew graduated with honors from Harvard University in 1982 and magna cum laude from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1986. In law school, he was Order of the Coif, a member of the Thurston Society, and an editorial board member of the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly. After law school, he was a law clerk for two years for Richard Sheppard Arnold of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Mr. Askew is a member of the American Bar Association and its Litigation Section, and the Media Law Resource Center. In the Arkansas Bar Association, he has served as a member of the House of Delegates, Chair of the Appellate Practice Committee, and was the first Chair of the Arkansas Bar Association's Litigation Section. Mr. Askew is listed in Best Lawyers in America under Appellate Law, Communications Law, Media Law, First Amendment Law, and Commercial Litigation; in Chambers USA as a "Leader" in the field of General Commercial Litigation; and in Mid-South Super Lawyers in the areas of Business Litigation and Intellectual Property Litigation. Mr. Askew is active in civic and non-profit groups and serves as Chairman of the Board of eSTEM Public Charter Schools, Inc., which supports the eSTEM Public Charter Schools in downtown Little Rock. He is a cyclist, woodworker, gardener, and with his wife, Kate Anderson Askew, the proud parent of two daughters.
Paige Gorman | Secretary/Treasurer
Paige Gorman earned her bachelor's degree in human development and family studies with child development emphasis from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville in 1991. She earned her master's degree in early childhood/special ed. interdisciplinary studies of preschool education and development in 1994. She feels strongly that students receive quality education from early childhood throughout the student's academic career, as reflected in her experience.
Ms. Gorman has served in a multitude of roles related to education. She has worked in early childhood classrooms, served at the state level, and most recently, as an educational consultant for a private education company. Additionally, she has taught her three children while in the role of ARVA Learning Coach and understands the importance of that role.
Ms. Gorman is an experienced trainer for her academic colleagues. She has presented at workshops and conferences at the local, state, and national levels related to providing quality early childhood education. She provided consultation services for the Oklahoma State Department with the "STARS" licensing system — and as a research data collector with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she produced a training video on a program used to assess the quality of early childhood programs. Ms. Gorman has worked at the state level as the resource center director and then the state approval coordinator for Arkansas. During this time, she also served as treasurer on the state board for the Arkansas Early Childhood Association.
Ms. Gorman is active in her local community. She has enjoyed volunteering at her children's schools and extracurricular activities including Little Rock Lacrosse, the Innovation HUB, and scouting activities.
