Celebrating Three Remarkable Eureka College Careers

Dear Eureka College Community,

There are moments in the life of a college when we have the privilege of celebrating not simply years of service, but the lasting impact individuals have made on generations of students and on the institution they have helped shape.

Today, I am writing to share that three longtime members of the Eureka College community -  Dr. Ann Fulop, Mr. Harry Fisher and Dr. Paul Small - have shared their plans to retire at the conclusion of the 2026-27 academic year.

Together, Ann, Harry and Paul represent decades of teaching, mentoring, scholarship, leadership and service to Eureka College. Their contributions can be found throughout our classrooms and academic programs, in traditions and experiences they helped create, in the colleagues they have supported and, most importantly, in the lives of countless students and alumni.

While we are fortunate to have many more months with Provost Fulop, Prof. Fisher and Dr. Small before their retirements next June, we want our community to have the opportunity to begin celebrating three remarkable careers and the legacy each will leave at Eureka.

Dr. Ann Fulop

Ann joined Eureka College in 2008 as a member of the psychology faculty, bringing with her an already impressive professional career. After earning her bachelor’s degree from Boston College and her master’s and doctorate in psychology from Old Dominion University, Dr. Fulop spent 20 years working at NASA, Bell Laboratories and State Farm Insurance, where her work included designing software and artificial intelligence systems and leading innovation teams.

At Eureka, Ann quickly distinguished herself as both an educator and leader. She received the Helen Cleaver Distinguished Teaching Award in 2010, earned tenure in 2011, served as Director of the Organizational Leadership program and twice served as Faculty President.

In 2017, Dr. Fulop began serving as Provost of Eureka College, bringing to the role the same commitment to students, innovation and academic excellence that characterized her years in the classroom.

Her influence can be seen across the academic life of the College. As a faculty member, Ann established Eureka’s Institutional Review Board process, helped standardize classroom technology and contributed to the design of the 10 Essentials curriculum. As Provost, she helped modernize student records and Eureka’s early-alert system and helped implement the 10 Essentials curriculum.

Provost Fulop also helped position Eureka for important opportunities through her work co-authoring the Title III SIP grant, EC PACES (Pathway Achievement for Career Engagement and Success) and the EDA Good Jobs Challenge workforce accelerator grant.

Yet, for all of her administrative accomplishments, Dr. Fulop’s work has remained deeply rooted in students. She has especially valued teaching, supporting students in their research and serving on Honors Thesis committees. Among the things she says make her most proud are the students she has watched leave Eureka and go on to make meaningful contributions in their professions and their own communities.

Eureka is also a family affair for Ann. Her son, Nicholas, graduated from Eureka in 2016, and her daughter-in-law, Kendall, followed as a member of the Class of 2018. In retirement, Ann looks forward to traveling, spending time in her garden and on the trail, and, most importantly, enjoying more time with her husband, Tom; daughter, Rachael; son, Nicholas; daughter-in-law, Kendall; grandson, Easton; and other family and friends.

Mr. Harry Fisher

Prof. Fisher arrived at Eureka College in August 2004 to teach management and marketing. Now in his 23rd year at Eureka, he has taught courses spanning marketing, management, human resource management, personal finance, ethical reasoning, business strategy and policy, consumer behavior, organizational management and many others. He earned tenure in 2007 and has served Eureka in countless capacities since.

Harry chaired the Social Science and Business Division from 2015-18 and served as Director of First Year Seminar from 2015-17. Over the years, he has advised dozens of students at a time, supported student internships, mentored junior faculty, developed new courses, helped recruit prospective students, participated in faculty and staff searches and worked with Eureka leadership on academic program development and review.

His committee service has been equally extensive, touching academic affairs, curriculum, faculty development, admissions, retention and persistence, international travel and judicial matters, as well as service with committees of the Eureka College Board of Trustees. Through it all, Mr. Fisher has been a consistent advocate for students and for the strength of Eureka’s academic programs.

One of Prof. Fisher’s signature contributions is undoubtedly London Live. Working initially with Marge Rubash, Harry helped develop the faculty-led experience that took Eureka students to London for two weeks to study the history, culture and economics of the United Kingdom. Harry participated in seven London Live experiences and served as lead faculty for five. More than 90 students representing 16 different majors participated over the years, expanding their understanding of the world while taking, as Harry describes it, “a little piece of the learning community at EC” with them to central London.

Mr. Fisher’s influence also extends well beyond Eureka. His involvement with MBAA International spans decades, including six years in the organization’s officer group and service as president in 2016-17. He has also held numerous leadership roles with the North American Management Society, including serving as its president and continuing today as a member of its board.

Throughout his career, Harry has remained an active scholar and contributor to conversations about business and higher education. His publications and presentations have explored agricultural economics, management and business education, experiential learning, the relationship between business and the liberal arts, and, more recently, the rapidly evolving role of artificial intelligence in higher education. Even in the final years of his Eureka career, he has continued asking what is next for teaching and learning.

But when Prof. Fisher reflects on the programs, professional accomplishments, conferences and travels at Eureka, he comes back to something much simpler: the people. He speaks of the faculty, staff, administrators, students, alumni and friends who have made his years here so meaningful: colleagues who supported one another, students who challenged him and a community that made more than two decades seem to pass remarkably quickly. As Harry puts it, it is the people who make Eureka College the kind of educational institution that prepares students to become successful citizens of the world.

That love of people, learning and community may ultimately be one of the best summaries of Prof. Fisher’s Eureka career.

Dr. Paul Small

For four decades, Dr. Small has challenged Eureka students to think deeply, ask difficult questions and pursue excellence in the sciences. After earning a Bachelor of Science in Cellular and Microbial Biology from the University of Calgary, Paul earned both his master’s and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Cincinnati. His graduate research focused on the enzymology of DNA repair, an early indication of the scientific curiosity and rigor he would bring to Eureka and generations of students.

Paul earned tenure at Eureka in 1993. During his career, he has taught an extraordinary breadth of subjects, including physiology, anatomy, embryology, biochemistry, immunology, genetics, microbiology, virology, parasitology and molecular biology. His teaching has also invited students to wrestle with some of the most complex intersections of science and society through courses addressing HIV/AIDS, human genetics, universal health care and medical ethics.

Dr.Small’s excellence in the classroom was recognized with the Helen Cleaver Distinguished Teacher Award in 1998-99, and he was later nominated for the T.A. Abbott Award for Faculty Excellence among Disciples colleges.

Paul’s leadership at Eureka has been equally significant. He chaired the Division of Science and Mathematics from 2003-09 and again from 2011-19 and served as Director of the Honors Program from 2019-25. He also directed the Pre-Nursing Program and Clinical Laboratory Science/Biology major, served on faculty committees and held responsibilities ranging from institutional biosafety and infectious-disease policy to service as Eureka’s Faculty Athletic Representative.

Perhaps the most meaningful measure of Dr. Small’s career, can be found in the accomplishments of his students. He mentored two national Barry Goldwater Scholars and influenced countless other students who went on to careers in industry and to leading medical, osteopathic, dental, doctoral and veterinary programs. Many of his students have earned prestigious NIH and NSF fellowships. Those accomplishments speak not only to Paul’s expertise, but also to the individual mentorship and high expectations that have characterized his work with Eureka students.

His commitment to experiential education also reached far beyond campus. As an advisor to Eureka’s International Health Care Development Program, Dr. Small helped provide students with opportunities in India, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Paraguay, Lesotho, South Africa and Kenya which connected classroom learning with health and human needs around the world.

Paul has also remained deeply engaged in science and education beyond Eureka. He has served as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria, teaching in areas including embryology, immunology, infectious disease and pathology, and has held additional teaching roles in nursing and biology.

For more than 25 years, Dr. Small served as a reader and table leader for Advanced Placement Biology examinations. He has contributed to and reviewed numerous scientific textbooks, published and presented research, and shared his expertise on subjects ranging from DNA repair, genetics and microbiology to the Human Genome Project, HIV/AIDS and CRISPR gene-editing technology.

His service has also reflected the belief that scientific expertise should benefit the larger community. Paul contributed to HIV/AIDS prevention and education efforts in Central Illinois, including work with the Illinois Department of Public Health, and received recognition for that volunteer service. His community involvement also included decades of leadership with the Peoria Hebrew Day School.

Across those many roles — scientist, teacher, researcher, mentor, advisor and community servant — Dr. Small has modeled the kind of intellectual curiosity and lifelong learning we hope to cultivate in every Eureka student.

A Legacy That Continues

It is nearly impossible to fully capture three careers like these in a single message.

Provost Fulop, Prof. Fisher and Dr. Small have each contributed to Eureka College in distinctly different ways. They have built and strengthened academic programs, modernized systems and curricula, conducted and shared meaningful scholarship, and advised, challenged and mentored thousands of students. They have opened doors to experiences across the country and around the world, served their professions and communities, supported colleagues and helped generations of Eureka students discover what they were capable of becoming.

Their retirements next June will mark the close of three extraordinary chapters in Eureka College history but certainly not the end of their influence. Their legacy will continue in the programs and traditions they strengthened, the colleagues they mentored, the ideas and innovations they introduced and, especially, the students and alumni whose lives they touched.

Transitions such as these are also part of the life of a college. Throughout Eureka’s long history, generations of remarkable educators have given their talents to this institution, strengthened it through their service and ultimately entrusted those who followed them to build upon their work. We are deeply grateful for the strong foundation Ann, Harry and Paul have helped build, and we remain excited about the people, opportunities and possibilities that will shape Eureka’s next chapter. 

And that next chapter is already beginning to take shape. Among Ann’s many important responsibilities during her remaining months as Provost will be partnering closely with faculty and EC leadership to thoughtfully plan for these transitions, which includes determining how best to carry forward the important academic work Harry and Paul have led with a focus on positioning their programs and Eureka College for continued success

Also, in the coming months, I will work closely with an executive search firm as well as faculty and senior leaders to conduct a national search for Ann’s replacement. We will share more about that process as it moves forward, 

Thankfully, we aren't saying goodbye just yet. There will be much more to come as we approach the end of the academic year, including opportunities for our community to celebrate Ann, Harry and Paul appropriately. For now, I hope you will join me in congratulating them on their upcoming retirements and, most importantly, thanking them for the extraordinary gifts of their time, talents and hearts they have shared with Eureka College.

With gratitude,

Dr. Jamel Wright
President
Eureka College