Dr. Mark A. Elrod, a lecturer of political science at the University of Central Arkansas, died following a short illness at the University of Arkansas for Medical Science (UAMS) in Little Rock on August 24, 2026.  A native of Delaware, Mark served in the U.S. Navy from 1976 to 1980.  He graduated with a B.A. degree in Political Science from Lipscomb College in Nashville in 1984 and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Vanderbilt University in 1995.  Dr. Elrod began teaching political science courses at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas in 1987.  At Harding University, he taught a variety of courses in international relations, comparative politics, and political theory.  

Dr. Elrod also provided students with numerous experiential learning opportunities, including sponsoring student involvement in Model Arab League (2010-2014) and leading study abroad programs to Italy (1998), Australia (2002), and Greece (2008).  He sponsored several student organizations at Harding University, including Pi Sigma Alpha political science honors society.  Dr. Elrod sponsored and participated in student service projects in Louisiana (2006-2007) and Illinois (2013), as well as overseas service projects in Honduras (1995-1996) and Haiti (2010-2013).  

For more than two decades, thousands of Arkansas high school students benefited from Dr. Elrod’s work as an instructor and coordinator for the annual Arkansas Governor’s School (AGS) held on the campuses of Hendrix College and Arkansas Tech University.  Starting with his time at Harding University, Dr. Elrod was an active member of the Arkansas Political Science Association (ArkPSA), including serving as association’s program chair in 2001 and president in 2002-2003.  He also served several terms on the association’s Executive Board and was a participant in International Relations/Comparative Politics roundtable discussions during several of the association’s annual meetings.  Dr. Elrod was awarded the ArkPSA’s Distinguished Scholar Award at the annual meeting in 2024.

Dr. Elrod joined the political science department at UCA as a visiting assistant professor in 2014, and he later became a lecturer in the department in 2019.  At UCA, Dr. Elrod taught U.S. government & politics, United Nations, international law, American Foreign Policy, and other courses.  He also coordinated the Arkansas Model United Nations (AMUN) program and served as a co-faculty advisor for the UCA Model United Nations (MUN) student organization.  During his 12 years at UCA, Dr. Elrod advised several groups of UCA students at collegiate Model UN and Model Arab League conferences held throughout Arkansas and Missouri.  Dr. Elrod was appointed by Governor Mike Beebe and served on the Keep Arkansas Beautiful (KAB) Commission from 2014 to 2020.  He served as chair of the KAB Commission in 2017.  In recent years, Dr. Elrod also served on the Veterans Affairs Committee at UCA, which led the efforts to commemorate Veterans Day each November and helped to establish the Veterans Resource Center on campus.

The memorial service for Dr. Mark Elrod will take place at Roller-Chenal Funeral Home in Little Rock on Saturday, September 5, 2026, 2:00pm.  Visitation begins at noon.