FAYETTEVILLE -- Justin Murphy Nolan, former chairman of the University of Arkansas Department of Anthropology, died Tuesday at his home, according to obituary information. He was 48.
Nolan died of a heart attack, the obituary states.
Mike Robbins, a friend and former teacher of Nolan, described him as "perhaps the kindest person I've ever known."
"He was also a Master Teacher whose students cared about what he knew because they knew he cared about them," Robbins, a retired anthropology professor at the University of Missouri who taught Nolan as a graduate student, said in an email.
Nolan, an El Dorado native, rose up the academic ranks to lead UA's anthropology department, but then was arrested on felony drug charges in 2018. The case was later transferred to drug court, allowing the charges to be dropped after Nolan completed treatment.
Upon his arrest, Nolan stepped down as department chairman. After an off-campus research assignment, this spring he resumed on-campus teaching and research, a UA spokesman said.
"I know he was delighted to be here teaching in Arkansas, which was his home state. It was a dream come true for him," said Christopher Liner, a UA professor and friend who described Nolan as "very modest."
Nolan's family tree includes founders of Murphy Oil Corp., among the most well-known businesses to begin in Arkansas. His grandmother, Theodosia Murphy Nolan, and her siblings founded C.H. Murphy and Co., the oil giant's predecessor, according to her obituary.
Few might have heard Nolan discuss his connection to a fabled part of Arkansas history, Liner said. But Liner, chairman of the UA geosciences department, said his friend would tell him stories about growing up around the business.
Nolan's focus as a researcher was American Indian culture, including herbal medicines, Liner said.
Andrea Pieroni, a professor of ethnobotany and ethnobiology at the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, Italy, described Nolan as "a very sharp anthropologist and ethnobiologist."
Pieroni said he struck up a friendship with Nolan 10 years ago at an academic conference.
"He just came to me and told me with his tremendous spontaneity and genuinity he was thankful for the work I was doing," Pieroni said in an email. Nolan welcomed him for two visits to Arkansas over the years, Pieroni said.
Liner said Nolan exuded manners and elegance. Once not making it to a house party, Nolan sent over flowers and chocolates, Liner said.
"Who does that?" he said.
Liner said his friend's death comes as a shock.
"He's just a wonderful fellow gone way too early," Liner said.
Metro on 05/22/2020