FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — University of Arkansas Alumna Margaret Gerig Martin, in memory of her late husband, R.S. Martin Jr., BSBA ’47, is doing her part to attract and recruit highly qualified doctoral candidates to the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the U of A.

Margaret Martin of Kilgore, Texas, has given $100,000 in a charitable gift annuity to establish the Margaret Gerig and R.S. Martin, Jr. Doctoral Fellowship in the Walton College. The gift will be matched by $100,000 from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation’s $300 million gift to the U of A in April 2002. The match will bring the endowment to $200,000, on which the investment returns will support the fellowship. The first student fellowship will be awarded for the fall of 2004.

UA Chancellor John A. White said: "Margaret and R.S. have been friends of the University of Arkansas for many years. We are very appreciative of Margaret’s generosity in establishing this important faculty endowment in Walton College in memory of her husband. The Doctoral Fellowship will allow the University of Arkansas to expand its support of doctoral education and contribute to the Walton College becoming more nationally competitive in graduate education."

"We are very grateful to Mrs. Martin for her family’s support of the Walton College," Walton College Dean Doyle Z. Williams said. "There is an increasing need for top doctoral students to graduate and fill teaching positions in business schools. This gift will make an immediate impact on our doctoral program, while providing Mrs. Martin with a stream of income for life."

G. David Gearhart, vice chancellor for University Advancement, said: "We thank Mrs. Martin for her gift and are pleased that we can help her to honor her husband through this faculty fellowship. The availability of matching funds makes it possible for benefactors to maximize their philanthropy and honor their loved ones in unique ways."

Through the end of the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century, matching funds are available for certain student and faculty endowments. Charitable remainder trusts, insurance gifts and other forms of irrevocable planned gifts may be eligible for gift matching thus giving benefactors an opportunity to significantly leverage their gifts with an immediate benefit.

Frank Broyles, director of men’s athletics and presiding co-chair for the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century, said: "I became acquainted with R.S. through his early, faithful support of the Razorback programs. R.S. was a 'difference maker’ at the time when we were just getting started, and he became a close personal friend as well as an avid supporter of the Razorbacks. He was always willing to help whenever we called, and we depended on him to be our Razorback presence in east Texas. He would be pleased that his name will be associated with this fellowship in the college from where he graduated. I especially want to thank Mrs. Martin for this gift to the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century."

R.S. Martin was an enterprising musician when he arrived at the University of Arkansas in 1941. He joined the varsity dance band and played trumpet at nearly every dance on campus. He was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity. He met a young freshman named Margaret Gerig in 1942. When World War II called him to the Pacific, he served in four major battles within one year. He returned to the U of A in early 1946 to finish his business degree and married Margaret that same year.

Margaret Martin received a B.A. degree in history in 1947 from the U of A. A native of Arkadelphia, Ark., she was a member of Pi Beta Phi. She served as co-secretary of First Presbyterian Church and was also involved with the Y.W.C.A. and W.A.A. (Women’s Athletic Association) organizations while on campus. Last spring, she celebrated her 60th Pi Beta Phi anniversary. Currently, Margaret Martin is an A+ Life member of the Arkansas Alumni Association and a true Hog fan, who tries to attend as many games as possible even though she travels extensively to Europe, Asia, South Africa, Turkey and South America.

In 1999, Margaret Martin accepted the Kilgore, Texas, "Citizen of the Year" award honoring her late husband as a civic worker and community leader. She received a standing ovation for her dedicated work to the community as well as her husband’s.

The Martin family has a long tradition at the University of Arkansas. The Martins’ sons graduated from the Walton College; Ruben S. Martin III received a B.S.I.M. (industrial management) in 1974 and Scott D. Martin received a B.S.B.A. in finance and banking in 1987. Margaret Martin has seven grandchildren, including two by her deceased daughter, Paula Martin Jones. Margaret’s father graduated from the U of A in 1914, and her mother was a former student.

Williams added: "Both Margaret and R.S. have been active supporters of the college. After his death in 1999, we dedicated our 2000 honors banquet to R.S. as a long-time friend and graduate. He was a charter member of our Dean’s Executive Advisory Board, served on the University of Arkansas Alumni Board, and was a scholarship donor to the UA athletic department."

After college, working in the family ice business in Kilgore, Martin saw that the advent of home freezers would make ice delivery obsolete. But he also realized that the trucks that moved it were here to stay. In 1953, R.S. and Margaret founded the Martin Gas Company. With one man, one truck, and one tank, the company set out to supply oil drilling rigs with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). R.S. quickly purchased larger LPG tanker trucks and entered the wholesale market. Soon he branched out to small retailers in other states and found himself at the head of the Southwest’s leading liquefied petroleum gas company.

Today the Martins’ company, Martin Midstream Partners L.P., is a publicly traded partnership, which conducts business through an operating company subsidiary, Martin Operating Partnership L.P. The operating subsidiary provides marine transportation, terminals, distribution and midstream logistical services for producers and suppliers of hydrocarbon products and by-products, specialty chemicals and other liquids. The operating partnership also manufactures and markets sulfur-based fertilizers and related products.

Ruben Martin serves as president and CEO of the company, and Scott Martin serves as director of the company and general manager of marine operations. The company had 2003 sales of $192.7 million and 1200 employees.

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’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 $154.6 million, and the overall Campaign total stands at $784.5 million as of Jan 31, 2004.