Dr. Frank Knight
Professor of Biology
Chair, Division of Sciences & Mathematics
B.S., Clemson University
M.S., Michigan State University
Ph.D., Indiana University
Office: 104 Smith-Broyles Science Center
Phone: (479) 979-1362
E-Mail: fknight@ozarks.edu
Dr. Frank Knight joined the Ozarks faculty in the Fall of 1990. He became the chair of the Division of Sciences and Mathematics in January of 2003. His teaching strategy tends to focus more on “helping the student to develop their abilities to learn through multiple modes.” He says, “I serve my student better if I coach and exercise his weaker learning skills rather than only catering to his learning ‘style,’ the skill he has developed best already.” When asked why he chooses to teach semester after semester along with all his other duties as Division Chair, he very modestly replied, “Teaching is more than just a job, I enjoy it. It’s fun teaching students about animals!” He is especially passionate about teaching in the field of Biological Sciences, saying “Science is more what we do, than what we know,” adding, “to learn best about real life we must go…outside." He frequently sets up labs in the field for his students to have more of a “hands-on” learning experience. His students actually spend nights out in the woods to have a close-up look at what goes on in a particular animal’s habitat, documenting their experience and the data they collect. He employs a group dimension in lecture and lab, requiring his students to learn by talking to each other as well as to him.
Dr. Knight has done a great deal of research on armadillos. He says he first became interested in armadillos when he made plans to move here from Indiana. He and his wife have successfully raised armadillos in captivity and in the past year, his help in acquiring armadillo litters has been requested by four research institutions. Dr. Knight says that because armadillos produce natural clones, they offer great advantages for researchers if they can be reliably obtained and maintained. He says they are the most interesting and unusual animal in North America, and offer numerous field and lab project possibilities for undergraduates, too.
Dr. Knight has had publications in the research of growth of fur and its benefit to baby rodents, as well as the embryonic development of four-eyed fish. He received an N.S.F. grant in 1994 and also in 2000 in addition to a few other grants and fellowships throughout his tenure at Ozarks. He was awarded the “Outstanding Faculty of the Year Award” in 2000, and served as Coordinator of University Academic Assessment from 1994 to 2003.
Away from the University, he and his wife Amanda manage a small farm just outside of Clarksville where they raise goats, chickens, and an assortment of other animals. Of course, Dr. Knight loves animals and he and his wife are often seen walking their border collies on campus; she with her ever-friendly “Fern,” and he with his trusty side-kick, “Cayenne,” or “Cy” for short. Many of the faculty and staff regularly enjoy farm fresh eggs produced by their free-range chickens.
