FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Norma Lea Beasley, of Dallas, will provide a $1 million gift to the School of Law building and expansion project. This is the largest single gift designated toward the project to date.

The entrance hall of the building addition will create a new formal entry to the Law School from the south and will be named the Norma Lea Beasley Entrance Hall. The three-story entrance hall will be a striking compliment to the addition. The large two-story lobby will serve as an appropriate place for Law School receptions and ceremonies. The third floor will be dedicated to classroom space.

As part of the Campaign for the Twenty-first Century, the School of Law is raising funds for a major building expansion.

UA Chancellor John A. White said: "I’d like to thank Norma Beasley for her leadership and generosity in providing this gift to help our School of Law. She has long been an ardent and dedicated supporter of her alma mater. Her gift will benefit current and future law students, because of the positive impact the new, expanded facility will have on the quality of instruction received and the Law School’s national reputation."

Richard Atkinson, dean of the School of Law, said: "This magnificent gift will literally transform both the appearance and the function of the Law School. Because of her truly remarkable talent, character, and effort, Norma has had an exceptionally successful career. By enhancing the learning environment here, she will help hundreds
of law students over the decades ahead to similarly realize their own potential. To know Norma Beasley is to admire her. Thus I and all the others here who have had the privilege of knowing her are immensely proud that the main entrance to the Law School will bear her name."

Beasley, a former Springdale native, is a 1953 graduate of the UA School of Law where she was the only woman in the class.  Prior to that, at age 16, she enrolled in the University of Arkansas and attended classes for two years.  The U of A granted her a bachelor of science in laws in 1960, which fully qualified her for graduate law studies at Southern Methodist University. She finished her classroom hours at SMU’s Graduate School of Law in oil and gas and taxation.

Considered a pioneer in the real estate industry, Beasley was successful in business at a time when women had fewer career choices. She is the retired chairwoman and CEO of SAFECO Land Title Company in Dallas, now known as Title Texas. At the age of 35, she was the first woman to be elected executive vice president and general council running 14 offices for a major title company in Dallas. She and her CPA partner, Imogene Walker, went on to build and purchase six title companies from 1968 to 1978 at which time she purchased the Dallas operation of Safeco Title Insurance Company. By 1982 she and her partner owned 11 title companies located in Dallas and adjacent surrounding counties. These constituted the largest group of independent title agencies in the nation. In 2001, Beasley sold three of the companies and sold three more in 2002. She still individually owns five of the companies in the surrounding counties.

She has received many business honors including the Pathfinder Award, Texas Trailblazer Award and the Athena Award. She was selected by NBC’s "Today Show" as one of the most Outstanding Businesswomen in America, named "Who’s Who in Insurance" by the Dallas Business Journal and is one of 30 women in America selected by the National Women’s Economic Alliance Foundation for contributions to the free enterprise system. She received the Lifetime Membership Award and the Outstanding Achievement Award from Commercial Real Estate Women.

In 2003, Beasley was the first woman to be inducted into the North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors Hall of Fame, an honor bestowed upon individuals who have made a significant impact on those who have shaped and developed the commercial real estate in north Texas. In 1999, she was inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame by then governor, now President George W. Bush.

Throughout her career, she has worked to help women in the business world. She taught real estate classes for Southern Methodist University and helped organize the real estate department for El Centro and Eastfield Junior Colleges in Dallas in furtherance of knowledge and expertise of the real estate professionals in Texas.

In 1986, Walton College honored her with its Citation of Distinguished Alumni Award and in 2002, honored her again with a Lifetime Achievement Award. She was a contributor in the campaign to preserve Old Main and founded the Norma Lea Beasley Endowed Scholarship in the Walton College for female students in their final year with the highest academic achievement in real estate. She also endowed a need-based scholarship in the School of Law and has been a longtime supporter of the Women’s Athletics program with a scholarship for women.

This gift counts toward the $300 Million Challenge, the campaign-within-a-campaign to raise $300 million for academic purposes to match the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation’s $300 million gift. Challenge funds must be raised between Jan. 1, 2002, and June 30, 2005, the end of the Campaign. The Challenge total stands at $163 million, and the overall Campaign total stands at $793 million as of March 31, 2003.