FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Ozark Society, a regional conservation group established in 1962, has honored the memory of Dr. Neil Ernest Compton, its first president and principal founder, by establishing the Neil Compton Scholarship in the Natural Sciences at the University of Arkansas. The scholarship will be awarded to students majoring in biological sciences or geosciences.

The J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences will host a special recognition ceremony at noon on Saturday, November 1 in the Mullins Library’s Helen Walton Reading Room. Speakers will include Dean Carolyn Henderson Allen, Dean Donald R. Bobbitt, Alice Andrews, President of the Ozark Society, and Dr. Compton’s daughter, Ellen Compton. Also participating will be Dan Davis, chair of the biological sciences department, and Tom Graff, chair of the geosciences department.

Dr. Compton, a Bentonville physician, was a 1935 UA alumnus with degrees in zoology and geology. In 1939, he graduated from the University of Arkansas Medical School. He served as a Naval medical officer in the Pacific during World War II.

In one of its earliest efforts, the Ozark Society fought the threat of proposed dams on the Buffalo River in northern Arkansas, culminating in the 1972 Congressional act that created the Buffalo National River, a national park administered by the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior.

"There is no honor that would please Neil Compton more than this scholarship to his revered University of Arkansas. It will advance our knowledge of what he cared for most, the natural world. The Ozark Society is to be congratulated for making it possible," said Ellen Compton.

Dr. Compton authored three books: The High Ozarks, A Vision of Eden (1982),which featured photographs by the author; The Battle for the Buffalo River (1992), an award winning publication of the University of Arkansas Press; and The Buffalo River in Black and White (1997), a collection of many of his early photographs.

"This scholarship will be a permanent legacy to the many contributions Dr. Compton made toward preserving the beauty of the Ozarks. Through their research and studies, our students will carry on his good work and perhaps someday make important contributions of their own to environmental conservation," said Donald Bobbitt, Dean of Fulbright College.

Dr. Compton was also the recipient of many local and national awards, including The American Motors Corporation Conservation Award , the first annual Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Award, and the National Wildlife Federation Achievement Award. In 1986, he received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Arkansas. Dr. Compton died on February 10, 1999.

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