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1 State of Arkansas
2 95th General Assembly
3 Fiscal Session, 2026  SMR 2
4
5 By: Senators M. Johnson, J. Boyd, J. Bryant, Caldwell, A. Clark, Crowell, B. Davis, Dees, J. Dismang, J.
6 Dotson, J. English, Flippo, S. Flowers, Gilmore, K. Hammer, Hester, Hickey, Hill, Irvin, B. Johnson, B.
7 King, G. Leding, F. Love, M. McKee, R. Murdock, J. Payton, C. Penzo, J. Petty, Rice, J. Scott, Simon,
8 Stone, D. Sullivan, C. Tucker, D. Wallace
9
10
11SENATE MEMORIAL RESOLUTION
12IN RESPECTFUL MEMORY OF SENATOR LUTHER BOYD "LU"
13HARDIN AND IN RECOGNITION OF HIS MANY CONTRIBUTIONS
14TO THE STATE OF ARKANSAS AND TO HIS LOCAL COMMUNITY.
15
16
17Subtitle
18IN RESPECTFUL MEMORY OF SENATOR LUTHER
19BOYD "LU" HARDIN AND IN RECOGNITION OF
20HIS MANY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE STATE OF
21ARKANSAS AND TO HIS LOCAL COMMUNITY.
22
23WHEREAS, former Senator Luther Boyd "Lu" Hardin, formerly of Maumelle,
24 Arkansas, passed away on Monday, August 11, 2025, at the age of seventy-three
25 (73); and
26
27WHEREAS, Senator Hardin was born on September 16, 1951, in Searcy,
28 Arkansas, to Luther S. Hardin and Chrystal Hardin; and
29
30WHEREAS, Senator Hardin was raised in Searcy, Arkansas, where he
31 developed a love for golf and politics, and where he played for the Searcy
32 American Legion baseball team during their victory in the 1969 state
33 championship; and
34
35WHEREAS, Senator Hardin attended college at Arkansas Tech University,
36 from which he graduated with high honors in 1973 after serving as President
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1 of the Student Senate and as a member of the debate team, the Arkansas Tech
2 University Wonder Boys golf team, and the All-Arkansas Intercollegiate
3 Conference golf team; and
4
5      WHEREAS, in 1971, while at Arkansas Tech University, Senator Hardin met
6 his wife, Mary Hardin, whom he married in 1975 and with whom he raised two
7 (2) children, Scott and Mallory; and
8
9      WHEREAS, after graduating from college, Senator Hardin attended the
10 University of Arkansas School of Law, from which he graduated in 1976; and
11
12      WHEREAS, after graduating from law school, Senator Hardin moved to
13 Russellville, Arkansas, where he became a member of Bullock, Hardin and
14 McCormick Law Firm, and where he began to teach as a professor of business at
15 Arkansas Tech University, rising to the rank of fully tenured professor and
16 being honored as Faculty Member of the Year; and
17
18      WHEREAS, Senator Hardin ran for office in the Senate, and served as a
19 senator from 1983 to 1996, where he was a member of the Joint Budget
20 Committee and where he chaired the Senate Committee on Education; and
21
22      WHEREAS, Senator Hardin mounted an election campaign for the United
23 States Senate, finishing second in the general primary and narrowly losing
24 the runoff election; and
25
26      WHEREAS, in January, 1997, Senator Hardin was appointed by Governor
27 Mike Huckabee to the governor's cabinet as Director of the State Department
28 of Higher Education, where Senator Hardin served for six (6) years and more
29 than tripled the number of Academic Challenge Scholarships issued to
30 Arkansans; and
31
32      WHEREAS, in 2002, Senator Hardin was selected by the Board of Trustees
33 of the University of Central Arkansas to serve as the university's eighth
34 president, serving in that role until 2008; and
35
36      WHEREAS, while serving as the president of the University of Central
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1 Arkansas, Senator Hardin embarked on a number of successful initiatives to
2 improve the university, including working with faculty to remove the
3 university from the American Association of University Presidents censure
4 list, launching a statewide marketing campaign, increasing enrollment at the
5 university from eight thousand five hundred (8,500) students to thirteen
6 thousand (13,000) students, successfully overseeing the elevation of the
7 university from NCAA Division II athletics to NCAA Division I athletics, and
8 securing funding for a new building for the College of Business; and
9
10WHEREAS, Senator Hardin served as the president of Palm Beach Atlantic
11 University in West Palm Beach, Florida from 2009 until 2011, where he
12 increased student enrollment, increased visibility for the university, and
13 expanded and grew the campus and sports facilities; and
14
15WHEREAS, Senator Hardin retired to Little Rock in 2012, where he spent
16 time doting on his children and grandchildren and where he remained engaged
17 in service to his community, such as his work to establish The Excel Center;
18 and
19
20WHEREAS, Senator Hardin is survived by his wife of fifty (50) years,
21 Mary Hardin, by his two (2) children, Scott Hardin and Mallory Brooks, and
22 his three (3) grandchildren,
23
24 NOW THEREFORE
25 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
26 STATE OF ARKANSAS:
27
28THAT the Senate remember former Senator Luther Boyd "Lu" Hardin and
29 recognize his many contributions to the State of Arkansas and to his local
30 community.
31
32 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT upon adoption of this resolution, an appropriate
33 copy be provided to Mary Hardin and family by the Secretary of the Senate.
34
35
36
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