James L. “Skip” Rutherford III, Dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, was inducted into the Arkansas Boys State Hall of Fame on Friday. The induction ceremony was held on the University of Central Arkansas campus in Conway, Ark.

Founded in 1935, Boys State is among the most respected and selective educational programs of government instruction for U.S. high school students. Boys State is a participatory program in which students become part of the operation of local, county, and state government.

Rutherford attended Boys State in the summer of 1967, between his junior and senior years of high school. He grew up in Batesville and graduated from Batesville High School in 1968. He went on to attend the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where he became editor of the Arkansas Traveler newspaper during his senior year.

Other members of the Arkansas Boys State Hall of Fame include U.S. Senators John Boozman and Tom Cotton, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former White House Chief of Staff Mack McLarty, and former Arkansas Governor and President Bill Clinton.