Hugh and Fran Nutt Designate Gifts to Five Areas of Campus

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – For some alumni, the University of Arkansas experience fades away after graduation. For Hugh (B.S.A. 1950) and Frances “Fran” Barton Nutt (B.S.H.E. 1950) of Ozark, Mo., their ties to the university have only grown stronger over the years. They have now created a charitable gift annuity in the amount of $100,000 to be dispersed across five areas of campus. A primary goal of the gift is to create scholarships.

The University of Arkansas has been the love of our lives,” said Fran Nutt. “We have made so many good friends, and this is a very special opportunity for us to give to a university we dearly admire.”

One fourth of the gift will go to Arkansas Razorback Band scholarships. The band meant a lot to Fran as a student, and she became an active member of the Alumni Razorback Band shortly after its creation. In the early 1990s, the couple began awarding small scholarships to band members, and they always knew they wanted to do more. Two scholarships will be awarded annually, one of which is specifically to benefit a member of Tau Beta Sigma National Honorary Band Sorority — an organization for which Fran served as the inaugural president.

Another part of the University of Arkansas experience that remains with the Nutts today is Carnall Hall. Fran has worked tirelessly to connect all of the Carnall Hall alumni — the women who lived in the historic campus landmark when it served as a dormitory. Not only has she planned three reunions for the alumnae, the group established a scholarship fund in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences that has, to date, awarded more than $7,600 to students. Because of the Nutts’ commitment to this scholarship program, a portion of their gift will go to the endowment.

The Arkansas Alumni Association scholarship program will also be supported by the Nutts’ gift. The couple holds an A+ life membership in the association, and they are charter members of the Tri-State Chapter. Last year, Fran was awarded the Andrew J. Lucas Alumni Service Award that acknowledges significant contributions of time and energy on behalf of the university and the association.

The School of Human Environmental Sciences in the Bumpers College will receive 25 percent of the gift to benefit the apparel studies program. This department has been very helpful in assisting Fran with the Carnall Hall reunions. Another valued part of the Bumpers College is the communication services department, which will receive part of the gift to be used to support this area of the college.

I have had the pleasure of working closely with Hugh and Fran over the years,” said Mark Power, executive director of university development. “The amount of drive and perseverance it took to achieve what they have done for the university is impressive. The Carnall Hall alumni scholarship program would not have been as successful without a person like Fran to take the lead. They are wonderful people, and we are thankful for their generosity to the university.”

“Everything I do for the university, I have not done alone,” Fran said. “My husband is as much a part of every experience, and he is by my side every step of the way. The Carnall Hall successes are the result of teamwork, too. I had an idea, and I had some extra time, but we put it all together, together.”

Hugh and Fran Nutt met at the university, and they were married in 1951. He worked for the University of Missouri extension office for 35 years, and she is a retired home economist and teacher. The couple has three children and five grandchildren, two of whom will continue their grandparents’ Razorback legacy. Their oldest grandson is an Arkansas alumnus, and their youngest granddaughter will be a freshman this fall.