Retirement of Mr. Michael Monhollon, Associate Provost and Chief Data Officer

Michael Monhollon, Associate Provost and Chief Data Officer announced his plan to retire from Hardin-Simmons University, effective May 31, 2025, after a distinguished career of over forty years as a lawyer and professor. Mr. Monhollon has served as Associate Provost and Chief Data Officer at HSU since his appointment by President Eric Bruntmyer in 2019.

During this time, he also has been the HSU liaison for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), the primary accrediting agency for colleges and universities in the southern United States. Monhollon came to HSU in 1998, serving first as an adjunct in the Kelley College of Business, then as a visiting assistant professor, and eventually as the Dean of the Kelley College of Business (now the Kelley College of Business and Professional Studies), a position he held from 2003 to 2019 when he moved into the provost’s office. As dean, Monhollon led Kelley to significant growth through multiple accreditations by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP).

Monhollon received his Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics with honors from Baylor University in 1980, his Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Virginia in 1982, and his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Virginia in 1984. He practiced law in Amarillo, Texas, then Virginia, then Dallas, Texas, before moving to Abilene, where he began to teach as an adjunct at Hardin-Simmons under his father, Dr. Jimmie Monhollon, the Dean of the College of Business at the time.

He has taught various economics and business law courses at HSU and will continue teaching until his retirement. Monhollon has been active in many community affairs, serving as treasurer of the Abilene Philharmonic Foundation and, most recently, as a trustee of the Presbyterian Medical Mission.

A member of First Baptist Church of Abilene, he has served as a deacon, chaired the Finance Committee and the Committee on Committees, and now sings in the choir. He and his wife of 35 years, the former Rachel Jones, have two sons, Joshua, a local attorney, and Seth, an IT consultant at Weber Electronics. They are the proud grandparents of their first grandson, Peter Monhollon.

“Mike has been an endless source of information and expertise in numerous legal and higher educational areas for HSU, and a true pleasure to work alongside”, Chris McNair, provost and vice-president for academic affairs noted. “He has overseen our data collection and utilization at HSU since he came to the provost’s office, and his work as our accreditation officer has been exemplary. We will miss his attention to detail, his dry sense of humor, and his love for Christian higher education. It is rare for us to go out to lunch or to events in Abilene where we don’t meet former students of his who feel blessed to have been in one or more of his classes. An accomplished novelist with eleven successful books to his credit, Mike’s writing skills will be sorely missed as we begin our search for his replacement.”

Monhollon plans to resume his writing career with many projects in mind and to spend more time with family at his vacation home in Palmetto, Florida. Join us in congratulating Mike on his retirement.