E. Brown III 1979–1993 When John Brown Jr. stepped down as president, the job fell to his son, John Brown III, who immediately sought to improve the academic quality of the university. He visited Wheaton College (Illinois) and heralded its commitment to an integration of academic quality and Christian faith. To accompany his praise of Wheaton, he announced that the first consideration of JBU in selecting prospective students would be academic quality, and raising the entrance requirements. As expected, this began to attract more academically gifted students. Also, in the 1980s, an Honors Program was established. However, the third Brown made sure to maintain JBU's historic emphasis on career training, through its non-liberal arts programs such as Engineering, Construction Management, and Graphic Design. As well as academic programs, John Brown III instituted new building programs and a scholarship for Latin American students paid for by Sam Walton. Presidency of George F. Ford 1993–1994 John Brown III stepped down as president and was succeeded by George Ford, former Vice President of Roberts Wesleyan College, who left after less than a year because of internal difficulties with the university. During Ford's brief presidency, the university began offering an undergraduate degree completion program ("The Advance Program") in various locations in Northwest Arkansas. Presidency of Lee Balzer 1994–2004 The former president of Tabor College in Kansas, Lee Balzer, took office after the Ford controversy with a plan to expand the university's reach. He extended the Advance Program for non-traditional students in other cities by establishing branch centers in Fort Smith, Arkansas and Little Rock, Arkansas. During his presidency, JBU offered its first graduate degrees, initially in school counseling, and later including master's degrees in marriage and family therapy, leadership and ethics, business (MBA) and Christian ministry. The Center for Marriage and Family Studies was established during the Balzer presidency. Under President Balzer, JBU also founded the Soderquist Center for Business Leadership and Ethics to promote ethical principles in the business world. In addition, JBU's financial campaign at the end of the 1990s raised more than 39 million dollars to build Walker Student Center, Bell Science Hall, North Hall, and the Soderquist Business Center, all in the span of barely more than five years. Presidency of Charles Pollard 2004–present In 2004, Balzer retired. JBU selected Charles (Chip) Pollard, then Professor of English at Calvin College, to take the office of president for the institution. Since