UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS ANNOUNCES CHANCELLOR’S MEDAL RECIPIENT AND OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - J. Frank Broyles, of Fayetteville, has been named by the University of Arkansas as this year’s recipient of the Chancellor’s Medal. Julian Stewart, of San Antonio, Texas, and Fayetteville, has been named the recipient of the Volunteer of the Year Award. The recipients will be recognized at this year’s black-tie Towers of Old Main dinner on April 26 in the Fayetteville Town Center.

UA Chancellor John A. White said, "We feel it’s important to recognize the loyal alumni and friends who have worked to make a difference not just in the University of Arkansas community, but in their local communities as well. This is just a small way to honor and thank these wonderful people for their service to the University, and the State of Arkansas, and to share our appreciation for their contributions with others."

The Chancellor’s Medal is awarded to individuals whose service to higher education and society-at-large has been truly extraordinary and was first awarded in 1993. Previous Chancellor’s Medal recipients include: Pat and Willard Walker, Dan Ferritor, Helen Robson Walton, James B. Blair, Willard B. Gatewood Jr. and Lawrence A. Davis Jr.

Frank Broyles is one of four co-chairs of the University’s Campaign for the Twenty-First Century and will serve as presiding co-chair from July 1, 2003, through June 30, 2004.

Broyles held coaching positions at the University of Florida, Georgia Tech and University of Missouri before coming to the University of Arkansas as head football coach in 1958 and winning the National Championship in 1964. He’s been the men’s athletics director at the U of A since 1976 and over his career has raised more than $175 million for athletic facilities at the University of Arkansas.

He has been a supporter of the University Libraries for many years and with his wife, Barbara, recently made a gift of $200,000 to be used as an endowment to supplement collections and purchase library equipment such as digital scanners and microfiche reader printers.

Broyles’s involvement with the Libraries began in the early 1980s when he served as chair of the Campaign for Books to raise funds to increase library holdings. At that time, the UA athletics department made the initial gift to launch the fund-raising drive.

Serving the community, Broyles is an Arkansas Athletes Outreach board member and was honored by the Atlanta Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America with the Bobby Jones Award in 2000. Additionally, he’s an American Heart Association volunteer.

He has received many honors including being named to the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor, Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame. He is also a National Football Foundation’s College Hall of Fame 1983 inductee. The Department of Human Services Division of Volunteerism and the Governor’s Office presented him with the Distinguished Citizen Award in 2000.

Mr. and Mrs. Broyles have been married for 58 years and have four sons, two daughters and 17 grandchildren. They are members of the Towers of Old Main, the cumulative giving society recognizing the University’s most generous benefactors, and are life members of the Arkansas Alumni Association. In 1990, Broyles was made an honorary alumnus of the University of Arkansas.

UA Chancellor John A. White said, "The University of Arkansas is fortunate to have had Coach Broyles’ leadership during the 1980’s Campaign for Books. His desire to raise the University’s academic standing is as strong as his desire to win national championships on our playing fields. His leadership is truly inspirational, and has made a difference in the lives of countless alumni and friends."

A 1957 civil engineering graduate of the University of Arkansas College of Engineering, Julian Stewart is a member of the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century Steering Committee, co-vice chair of the Leadership and Principal Gifts Committee and a member of the Executive Committee.

UA Chancellor John A. White said, "Julian has been an enthusiastic volunteer whose service, insights and expertise are very much valued by us. Every time we’ve asked him to take on leadership roles in the Campaign, he has always stepped up and said, 'Yes, I'll be happy to serve.’ When we needed support for the Chancellor’s Scholarships after the program was significantly expanded, Julian and Nana stepped forward and endowed the Elizabeth Phillips Stewart Chancellor’s Scholarship, named for Julian’s mother who passed away in 1998. Since Mary Lib and I count Julian and Nana among our dearest friends, it is a special privilege to award him the Volunteer of the Year Award."

Stewart is a member of the National Development Council, the volunteer organization that advises the University in developing, enhancing and strengthening its academic programs through private gift support. He and his wife, Nana, were among the first inductees into the Towers of Old Main, are members of the Chancellor’s Society for their annual contributions to the University and are life members of the Arkansas Alumni Association.

Stewart has been active in his community as chairman of the Baptist Health System of San Antonio and as trustee and past treasurer of the Baptist Health System Foundation. He formerly served on the board of Junior Achievement of South Texas. He has served as chairman of both the American Heart Association-San Antonio and the American Heart Association-Texas affiliate where he was elected as an honorary life member of the board. He is a member and deacon of the Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio and is past chairman of the deacon council.

The Stewarts have been married for 44 years and have a son, a daughter and two grandsons.

The first Outstanding Volunteers of the Year, E.J. Ball and Charles Scharlau, were recognized in 1989. Other previous recipients are: Mary Trimble Maier, Reynie Rutledge, H. Lawson Hembree IV, Charles M. Kittrell, Charles B. Whiteside III, Lee Bodenhamer, Harriett Phillips, Curtis Shipley, Lee Williams Jr., Sylvia H. Boyer, Tommy Boyer, Kaneaster Hodges Jr., Jack L. King, Irma F. Giffels and Vernon Peppard.

This year’s recipients will be honored during the Towers of Old Main dinner. Membership in the Towers of Old Main is a singular honor bestowed upon individuals whose cumulative giving or irrevocable commitment to the University of Arkansas has reached or exceeded $100,000. Alumni and friends are invited annually to a black-tie dinner held to induct the new members into the group.

The Towers of Old Main was launched in the spring of 2000 and had 238 members as of Jan 1, 2003.

Contacts

 G. David Gearhart, vice chancellor, University Advancement, (479) 575-6800 gdgearh@uark.edu

Laura H. Jacobs, manager development communications (479) 575-7422 lherzog@uark.edu

 

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