FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas has moved up in its academic reputation score for the third straight year in a row, according to U.S. News & World Report’s "America’s Best Colleges" 2004 rankings.

In the 2002 report, the Walton College scored 3.0 out of a possible 5.0; in 2003, it scored 3.1; and in 2004, it scored 3.2. In addition, this year the Walton College continues to hold a tie for 28th place among the nation’s top 30 public undergraduate business schools. In the 2003, the College moved up from a tie for 40th place to the tie for 28th place. In that report, the College also moved into the top 50 public and private undergraduate business schools, a position it has retained in the 2004 survey.

For the first time, U.S. News rated the Walton College 15th for its undergraduate business specialty in Supply Chain Management/Logistics among the approximately 100 schools offering such specialties.

The rankings were determined through a U.S. News survey, which each year asks business school deans and senior faculty to rate the 393 public and private undergraduate business programs accredited by the AACSB International — the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

"This rise in academic rankings can be attributed to the collective efforts of our faculty, staff and students, alumni and friends," said Doyle Z. Williams, dean of the Walton College. "In addition, this national recognition of our efforts in supply chain management and logistics indicates the increasing quality of faculty, students and our relationships with business and industry in this critical area."

The Supply Chain Management Research Center in the Walton College, established in 1996, supports transportation and logistics faculty, student career fairs and internships, and research with business and industry.

Jim Crowell, managing director of the Supply Chain Management Research Center, said, "We are very excited about this U.S. News ranking. The Center connects us with transportation and logistics organizations in some of the nation’s largest corporations. Its board of directors is comprised of 29 key logistics executives from 15 national and international companies. This support enables us to greatly enhance the quality of our bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in transportation and logistics."

Tom Jensen, Wal-Mart Lecturer in Retailing and chair of the marketing and logistics department, said, "The Center’s board of directors have helped us build programs to educate our students and better prepare them for tomorrow’s job market. As well, these relationships have created more opportunities for real world research that in turn benefits the member companies."

The Walton College tied for 28th place this year with these public business schools: College of William and Mary, Florida State University, University of Missouri, and University of Tennessee.

The top six ranked undergraduate public and private business schools were the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan), University of California — Berkeley (Haas), University of Michigan, New York University, and University of Texas (MCombs).

The Walton College is tied for fourth place among the rated Southeastern Conference schools with the University of Tennessee, behind the University of Florida (Warrington), University of Georgia (Terry) and University of South Carolina (Moore).

"These rankings validate all the steps we’ve taken in the last six years to position the Walton College among the nation’s most reputable and competitive business schools. If you look at the universities ranked above us, only two public schools saw such a dramatic rise in academic reputation from the 2002 to the 2004 reports," Williams added.

In April 2003, the College announced that the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation will provide $8 million to construct Willard J. Walker Hall at the Sam M. Walton College of Business to house its Graduate School of Business and several research centers.

The building will be named for the late Willard Walker, in honor of his success in retail management and contribution to the creation and development of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Walker was the first manager of Sam Walton’s Five and Dime on the Fayetteville Square. He retired from Wal-Mart in 1972.

At the time, Dean Doyle Z. Williams said, "Complementing the incredible private gift support the College has received from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation and the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, we will now be able to add the final missing piece of our facilities plan that will allow us to soar as high at the graduate education level as we have at the undergraduate level. The Walkers have provided the wind beneath our wings, and we can never thank them adequately for what they have done."

The Walton College awarded 810 degrees for the twelve months ended June 30, 2003, up from 640 for 2002. In 2003, the total degrees awarded by the College represented 23.6 percent of all degrees awarded by the University of Arkansas, up from 19.3 percent in 1998.