Dr. Bruce McLarty recently stepped into the spotlight this June when he assumed the presidency and remains the center of much attention as his inauguration on Sept. 20 approaches. Yet behind the university’s fifth president stands his wife, Harding’s newest first lady, Ann McLarty, who said she has and will continue to support her husband as together they serve Harding’s mission.
“When we were told that Bruce’s name had been put in to be considered, we were together on this every step of the way,” Ann McLarty said. “We talked about it, prayed about it and decided to go for it.”
Ann McLarty first came to Harding as a student in 1976 without ever visiting the campus before she moved in. She was a member of OEGE women’s social club and graduated in 1980 with a degree in nursing. She said she remembers her time on campus as a student as both a memorable and important time in her life.
“I had a wonderful four years here and graduated in the fourth class of the nursing program,” Ann McLarty said. “I was in the OEGE social club and King’s Men was our brother club; we were a close knit group and had so much fun together. Those were very special people and very special years for me.”
Ann McLarty said she met her husband during her time as a student. Although Bruce McLarty went to Memphis for graduate school while she was still in the nursing program, the two were married in 1980, shortly after she graduated.
The young couple moved to Mississippi, where Ann McLarty was a nursing supervisor, but soon moved again, to Cookville, Tenn. She said they initially planned to settle down there for the foreseeable future to raise their young daughters. Although Ann McLarty said her family did not initially plan to return to Searcy, they jumped on the opportunity when Bruce McLarty received a job offer from College Church of Christ in 1991.
“The College Church was where we attended as students and it had a huge impact on our faith during those years,” Ann McLarty said. “I had only been out of college for 11 years when we came back and it took me a while to see myself as a peer instead of a student. My professors were so kind and treated me as a peer immediately.”
Although Bruce McLarty did not join Harding’s faculty until 2005, Ann McLarty has worked as a nurse on campus with Student Health Services for the last 18 years.
Her nephew, junior Kaleb McLarty, said he has very high hopes for his aunt, who he said he believes will serve Harding well.
“I think Aunt Ann is going to be an incredible first lady,” Kaleb McLarty said. “She is approachable and down to earth. When you are with her, you can’t help but feel at ease.”
As her role on campus changes, Ann McLarty said former first ladies taught her about how to settle in well.
“Mrs. Burks and Mrs. Ganus are wonderful mentors,” Ann McLarty said. “They both have encouraged me to make the role my own. So I am in the process of doing just that.”
