UA Walton College Honors Outstanding Alumni, Students, Faculty and Staff

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, will hold its twelfth annual honors banquet tonight at the Holiday Inn in Springdale.

The Walton College will honor three distinctive alumni and an individual who has contributed to the advancement of the college:

• Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys, Dallas, Texas - Lifetime Achievement Award;
• Sunthorn Arunanondchai, C.P. Land Co., Ltd. and C.P. Plaza Co., Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand - International Achievement Award;
• Larry P. Crain, Crain Management Group, LLC, Little Rock, Ark. - Entrepreneur of the Year Award; and
• Bob Connolly, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Bentonville, Ark. — Special Service Award.
  

 
Walton College Dean Doyle Z. Williams said: “We have chosen these business leaders because they exemplify the very essence of what we are trying to teach our students. Their accomplishments provide inspiration to the students as well as to our faculty and staff.”

A native of North Little Rock, Jones was co-captain and starting guard of the 1964 University of Arkansas team that beat Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl and won the national championship. He became successful when he ventured into oil and gas exploration in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1989, Jones purchased the floundering Dallas Cowboys and Texas Stadium. In 1993, the Cowboys won their first Super Bowl in 15 seasons. In 1994, they appeared in their NFL-record seventh Super Bowl, becoming only the fifth team to win back-to-back Super Bowl championships. In 1996, the Cowboys won their third Super Bowl in four seasons and tied the record for most Super Bowl victories with five. In 1995, Financial World magazine recognized Jones as the owner of the most valuable sports franchise in all of pro athletics.

Arunanondchai received a bachelor’s degree in business from Southern Arkansas University and an MBA from the Walton College. He is also director of several companies in the C.P. Group and chairman of a wide range of businesses, including manufacturing, retailing, investment holding companies, hotel and shopping mall, office and residential buildings. He has been active in the academic world since 1969 and is a regular lecturer at various Thai universities. In 1993, he helped set up the College for Graduate Studies in Management, including the building which is named for him, at Khon Kaen University, where he still lectures. Over the past 30 years, he has built up several endowments at numerous universities in Thailand.

Crain graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1963 with an accounting degree and passed the C.P.A. exam. He worked three years for the Peat Marwick and then joined his father’s business, Crain Automotive Inc., a parts warehouse and retail store. In the early 1980’s, the company saw an industry trend and customer need for free-standing auto stores and opened its first KarPro in Searcy. Today, Crain is chairman of Crain Management Group LLC, a holding company with majority interests in a group of diversified companies. The holdings include interests in ten auto dealerships, automotive parts distributors, and radio and TV broadcasting as well as investment real estate. In 2004, he purchased Arkansas’ first professional basketball team, the Rimrockers, composed of several former Razorbacks. The team won the ABA championship in its first year.

Connolly has been a strong supporter of the Walton College Center for Retailing Excellence since its inception in 1998. As the chair of the Center’s Executive Advisory Board, he provided leadership for many of its student programs, including the pre-intern program, advertising agency meeting, big picture meeting and supplier meeting. Connolly has been involved in the Center’s annual Emerging Trends Conference and voted the retail educator of the year by the Center’s executive board. During the fall 2003 semester, Connolly was an executive-in-residence in the Walton College, teaching the senior-level marketing honors colloquium. Known as a mentor within Wal-Mart, he has also contributed time as a mentor for Walton College students entering the Governor’s Award for Entrepreneurial Development.

WALTON COLLEGE OUTSTANDING STUDENT AWARDS

The Walton College’s outstanding undergraduate senior awards include:

Accounting — Adi Masli, Sarah Garton

Economics — Alexandra Correll

Finance — Joseph Edelstein, Michael Peebles, Laura Katherine Tamas, Natasha Triandafillias  

Information Systems — Megan Robbins, Douglas Mitchell

International Business — Rebecca Stubbs

Marketing and Transportation — Brooke Simmons Helpenstill, Adam Bradford, Ricco Ardemagni, Laura Jakosky, April Seggebruch, Kristin Bragg, Lindsay Higgins

Management — Todd Brinkley, Stephanie Solomon, James Park

Ralph Treat Outstanding Cooperative Student Award — Josh Kilgore

Graduate student awards include:

Master of Business Administration — Alicia Alexander, Donald Preston

Master of Accountancy — Kyle Stacey

Master of Arts in Economics — Viktoria Riiman

Master of Information Systems — Stacey Strokova

Master of Transportation and Logistics — Brent Williams

The Sam M. Walton Student Leadership award will be given to Rebecca Stubbs.

The University of Arkansas and Walton College student awards, which will also be recognized at the University-wide ceremonies, include: First-ranked Senior Scholars — Adam Bradford, Jennifer Casey, Sarah Garton, Heather Hughes, Scott Jackson, Adi Masli, Jeremy Rogers, Jill Shumaker, Brooke Simmons Helpenstil, Stephanie Solomon and Brandice Wells. These students completed all of their course work at the U of A with a GPA of 4.0. The Senior Scholars are Robert Clarke, Jenny Kilgore, Steven Nye, Chandi Schrechkise Plank and Christine Schreiner. They have been enrolled at the University for at least four semesters and have a GPA of 4.0. Rebecca Stubbs will receive the Beta Gamma Sigma award, and Lacey LaRue will receive the Presidential Scholar award. The Walton College’s Outstanding Graduating Senior is Brandice Wells and the Distinguished Student Achievement Award winner is Veronica Campbell.

OUTSTANDING WALTON COLLEGE FACULTY AND STAFF

Doyle Z. Williams will recognize the outstanding Walton College faculty and staff for the 2004-2005 academic year. He said: “It takes the combined efforts of all of our faculty and our staff to provide these students with the best business education possible. We are grateful for all of their work this year to produce a top graduating class.”

Scot Burton, Wal-Mart Chair in Marketing and professor of marketing, will receive the “Outstanding All-Around Faculty” award for excelling in teaching, research and service. The “Excellence in Teaching” award will be given to John Cole, visiting instructor in marketing, for his teaching in marketing strategy. The “Excellence in Research” award will be presented to Andrew Horowitz, associate professor of economics, for his research productivity. Douglas Hearth, associate professor of Finance, will receive the “Excellence in Advising” award for his class Freshman Business Connections. The “Excellence in Service” award will be presented to Alan Ellstrand, MBA program director and associate professor of management, for his leadership in the full-time and part-time MBA programs. Christi Wann, doctorial student in finance, will receive the “Outstanding Graduate Assistant” award for excellence in teaching.

Williams will recognize eight faculty and staff members for their length of service to the Walton College and the University of Arkansas: 10 years of service — John Aloysius, Betsy Creyer, Mary Gray, Karen Pincus, Janet Renwick, Robert Stapp; 20 years of services — Louis Glorfeld; and 30 years of service - David Douglas.

The Walton College “Major Contribution” award will go to Suzanna Hicks, department of accounting. The “Superior Service” award will go to Jeff Waits, computer support specialist II, Technology Center.

The Walton College “Outstanding Team” award will go to the Center for Retailing Excellence for its successful retail symposium and student programs. Members include managing director, Claudia Mobley, and Pam Styles and Paula Justus. The “High Performance Team” award will go to the Center for Business and Economic Research for their work on the Business Forecast luncheon and various other events. Members include: Jeff Collins, Kathy Deck, Sherryl Barger, Glyn Finely, Yi Liu and Jamie Mondal.