E. A. Provine

Professor Emeritus, Chemistry

Eugene Almarine Provine earned his B.S. from Mississippi College in 1923, his M.S. from Louisiana State University in 1925, and his Ph.D. from Ohio State University in 1936. Joining the Ouachita faculty in 1929 as Professor of Chemistry, Dr. Provine found the college to be struggling in the formation of the “400 Club”, an attempt to boost enrollment to 400 students.  During his 38 years at Ouachita, he was to see the student body increase to over 1,500 students. “Under his direction, the department sent more chemistry students to graduate school than any other individual in Arkansas,” according to Dr. Wayne Everett, a colleague in the Chemistry Department. Dr. Provine retired as Department Chair in 1966, but continued to carry sizeable academic loads as a Distinguished Professor. Honors and awards, while important, meant less to Dr. Provine than the lasting friendships, the feeling of being at home at Ouachita, and the simple scholarly pleasure found in the pursuit of knowledge. When the science building was renovated and remodeled in 1974, its name changed from the Hamilton Moses Science Building to the Moses-Provine Science Center in his honor. E.A. Provine married the former Lucille McDaniel and have one daughter, Priscilla Provine Trussell. Dr. Provine died August 8, 1985.