Faculty Interactions Inspire Alumnus to Give Back

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Steve and Deborah Nelson

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Alumnus Steven Nelson and his wife, Deborah, of Little Rock have contributed $100,000 to support accounting faculty in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas. Their endowment, the Accounting Faculty Innovation Fund, will provide operational discretionary funding for the Department of Accounting and support the recruitment and retention of top-quality accounting business faculty.

“Generosity from alumni and friends, like Steve and Debbie, is essential to helping us elevate the accounting department in a national arena,” said Gary Peters, interim head for the Department of Accounting and holder of the Doris M. Cook Chair in Accounting. “Steve and Debbie understand the big picture and realize their gift will allow the department to more fully engage our faculty, develop students and ultimately enhance the accounting profession. They have made a difference not only through their active involvement on our advisory boards but through their financial investment as well, and we are better for it.”

Steve Nelson grew up in Murfreesboro, where he caught “the accounting bug” in a bookkeeping class as a senior in high school. He came to the University of Arkansas because he viewed it as having the best business program in the state.

As a sophomore accounting student, Nelson had a class with Nolan Williams, an accounting professor who also served as department head during his 36 years with the business college. Williams gave Nelson “a great start to a great education,” which led to a positive overall experience at the U of A. Nelson also credits another influential faculty member, Jim Modisette, with inspiring him to pass his C.P.A. exam on the first try.

After graduating from the university, Nelson began working in public accounting at Ernst & Whinney in Little Rock, the predecessor to Ernst & Young. He worked in public accounting for four and a half years before joining First Federal Savings and Loan and then accepted a position as controller at Dillard’s Inc. in 1988. Nelson is still with Dillard’s today, where he serves as vice president and controller.

Nelson is a member of the Walton College Dean’s Executive Advisory Board and former member of the Accounting Department Advisory Board, and says these experiences opened his eyes to the economics of higher education and the need for increased faculty support. This information, coupled with the incredible support Nelson received from the accounting faculty during his time as a student, ultimately served as his inspiration for giving back.

“I saw that they needed funds with flexibility so they could retain talented faculty,” he said. “So we wanted to provide them with a pool of money that would be entrusted to the accounting chair to use for enhancing their program.

“I think back to some of the professors I had – Nolan Williams, Jim Modisette and Doris Cook – and the impact they had on my career. This fund is meant to retain the future Doris Cooks at Walton College.”

The Accounting Faculty Innovation Fund is designed to give the accounting department chair the flexibility to allocate funds for faculty support wherever they are needed the most, including summer teaching and research stipends, travel to academic conferences, technology enhancements and other necessary expenses required to build and maintain a very high-caliber accounting faculty.

The Nelsons consider this gift an initial investment and hope others will contribute, too. It is their hope that it will continue to grow and become increasingly useful to the accounting department. For more information about the Accounting Faculty Innovation Fund or to make a donation, contact Rachel Burton, associate director of development for Walton College, at 479-575-5425 or reburton@uark.edu.

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About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.