For many adult learners, higher education is not a straight path, but a journey marked by career transitions, family responsibilities, and a commitment to lifelong growth. At the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB), Thomas D. Noble III embodies that spirit. The 61-year-old educator recently earned his second master’s degree from UAPB, completing a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and demonstrating how UAPB’s graduate programs help working professionals advance their careers, strengthen their leadership skills, and pursue new opportunities at every stage of life.
Thomas D. Noble III believes in the power of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which he describes as institutions that go above and beyond the call of duty despite having limited resources.
“This is what happens at HBCUs. They give us that push. Some people call it a leg up, but they give us that intensity. They give us that experience for us to know,” Noble said.
Last month, the North Little Rock, Arkansas native received a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) during Spring commencement. This is his second time obtaining a master’s degree from UAPB.
“This was my second master’s as I journey to my doctoral end. So, my next move will be at Arkansas Tech University and in a year, I will graduate with a specialist in educational leadership. And then following that another year and a half I will graduate with a doctoral degree in educational leadership which extends my ability to be a superintendent,” Noble said.
The 61-year-old, who says he does not look his age, is an English Language Arts teacher at Dunbar Business, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship Magnet Middle School in Little Rock, Arkansas. This is his first year in the Little Rock School District and first time teaching sixth graders. Now he will begin teaching eighth graders and is currently featured in a video on YouTube titled “Magnet Excellence | LRSD Teacher Series | Thomas D. Noble III.”
Named Teacher of the Year in 2020 and 2021, Noble received the ARVEST BANK “We Love Teachers” Community Award in 2023 and is a LEARNS Act Merit Teacher Pay Recipient 2024–2026. He served on the Superintendent’s Council from 2024 to 2025 and has been a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity for almost 25 years.
“Throughout my career, I have led through service, collaboration, and relationship-building, fostering cultures where students and educators are empowered to reach their highest potential. Guided by the belief that ‘every child needs a champion,’ I am committed to building leadership capacity, inspiring collective efficacy, and leading equitable, student-centered systems that promote continuous improvement and lasting success,” Noble said.
UAPB provided him with a clear pathway to transition from his former career to a future focused on educational excellence.
“UAPB gave me really the foundation,” Noble said. “And my story spans decades of being somewhat of a single male parent because I had three sons – and taking off the time to ensure their educational dreams and possibilities – and putting mine on hold all while switching professions and going from working with youth services and Boys and Girls Club of America and being what is called an area director…and having a company car. And then to start in education and work my way from the bottom back up is valuable.”
While working at the Boys and Girls Club of North Little Rock, now known as the Boys and Girls Club of Central Arkansas, Noble was afforded opportunities to dine with such celebrities as General Colin Powell, LeBron James, Ashanti and Denzel Washington, whom he said were spokespersons for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
“I have been flown all over this country from New York to California to D.C,” he said.
Noble praised Dr. Stacy Luckett, an assistant professor at UAPB and the instructor for the educational leadership program. He described his overall learning experience as “incredible” due to her teaching method and everything that was required of him. This included his attending a day-long event that consisted of appearing before a panel of 12 individuals to present, deliberate on, and defend a specific topic.
“They call you back and give you what they call next steps. Who does that? The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and Dr. Stacy Luckett!” he said.
Noble shared that he has faced many challenges throughout his academic journey. He revealed that he grew up in the projects in the inner city, came from a blended family, and had two sets of parents.
“Both my fathers have passed away,” he said adding that his biological father passed away last year, and he had to “jump on a plane and face that situation and come back to do coursework.”
As a younger college student in the 1980’s, Noble says he lacked self-confidence.
“I transferred from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock at a time when I sat in a room in 1984 and would see very few people who looked like me, and I was not uncomfortable. It was not until I transferred to Philander Smith College, now Philander Smith University, and I went there because I felt like I had gotten lost, I was not really ready, but I also felt like I really didn’t communicate well with my own people,” Noble said.
He dispels many myths that he says are often associated with HBCUs and shares the key role that UAPB has played in his life.
“Being at UAPB is something that I don’t think people truly get it, but I get it. And that’s one of the reasons why I selected an HBCU and, of course, UAPB. So, being at an HBCU, the strangest thing was that most of my instructors have always been Asian, white or from Britain,” Noble said. “But still they embodied what we do at HBCUs. People think that being at an HBCU is isolating you from everybody else. That’s what the outsiders want to say. I say, ‘Oh no.’ It teaches you everyone else and it teaches you yourself,” Noble said.
He shared that HBCUs bring out the very best among its students.
“So, that’s what happens when you are at an HBCU. When you walk in as that little black boy or little black girl that’s been a stellar star everywhere else, you just walked into a room of other stellar stars. You are no longer the elitist in that room or on that campus. You’re the status quo. Now you’ve got to do something more than – you’ve got to get out of that particular comfort zone because otherwise, no one sees you because there are 15, 20, 30 just like you. So, now the competition is on,” Noble said.
Finally, he unpacks why HBCUs are successful.
“HBCUs work because they’re more than a checklist of buzzwords and buzz phrases. They’re not excuses. We’re not allowed to have excuses. We can have a reason, and that’s fine, but let’s get that work done. We must, we have to,” Noble said.
