ASU scholarship established for pupils of Spa City school

JONESBORO — An Arkansas State University scholarship has been established by Sara Roberson in memory of her late husband, Dr. George V. Roberson, for graduates of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts in Hot Springs.

The award will be known as the George and Sara Roberson Scholarship. Roberson graduated from ASU and the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, graduating first in his medical school class.

George Roberson served on the ASU Chancellor’s Cabinet, which includes people who donate to the university and who have an opportunity to provide counsel to the chancellor and his administration.

Sara Roberson and a son, Scott Roberson, serve on the Chancellor’s Cabinet. Scott Roberson is an ASU graduate. Matt Roberson, another son of George and Sara Roberson, also graduated from Arkansas State. Drew Roberson, who is George and Sara Roberson’s grandson, represents the family’s third generation at ASU.

George Roberson, who died at age 77 in 2013, was born in Jonesboro. He moved to Pine Bluff in 1967 and practiced general, thoracic and vascular surgery, including laparoscopic and endoscopic surgery, for about 45 years, according to his obituary in the Pine Bluff Commercial.

He was especially known in southeast Arkansas for a weekly medical-information column he wrote in the Pine Bluff Commercial, according to his obituary, which said:

“He started this column in 1988 and wrote articles for over 20 years. He was an early pioneer in this area, before medical information was commonly provided in newspapers, magazines and other periodicals.”

ASU said Sara Roberson lives in Hot Springs. That city is home of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts campus. The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts — operated by the University of Arkansas System — is a public residential high school for students who have an interest and aptitude for mathematics, science or the arts.

The school is the only residential high school in the state and one of 14 state-supported residential math and science high schools in the country. Hillary Clinton and Ronald Hart, a former director of the National Center for Toxicological Research, a part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, conceived the idea for the school. ThenGov. Bill Clinton included the school as part of his education package in the 1991 legislative session.