National Philanthropy Day to Recognize Members of the Arkansas Family

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Several alumni and friends of the University of Arkansas will be recognized Nov. 17, in honor of National Philanthropy Day, for their dedication and service to the university and community at large.

National Philanthropy Day, sponsored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Northwest Arkansas Chapter, is the special day set aside to recognize and pay tribute to the great contributions that philanthropy — and those people active in the philanthropic community — have made in the lives of many. A total of eight awards will be presented at this year’s event.

“Every day feels like National Philanthropy Day on our campus,” said Chancellor G. David Gearhart. “It is because of the guidance, loyalty and philanthropic hearts of this year’s honorees and others like them that we are able to offer students an exceptional learning experience. Whether someone gives of their dollars, their time or their sound advice, we are a better institution because of it. I am proud to watch members of our family be recognized for their hard work and their commitment to education.”

The following selected honorees were nominated by the University of Arkansas for this recognition:

• Julian and Nana Stewart of San Antonio and Fayetteville, were chosen as the Outstanding Philanthropist award recipients for 2010. Julian Stewart, a 1957 civil engineering graduate, along with his spouse, Nana, a 1958 graduate of the College of Education and Health Professions, have committed several million dollars to the university, most of it to provide financial support to students. Since 1998, the couple has, among other gifts, funded five merit-based Chancellor’s Scholarships and two need-based Access Arkansas Scholarships. Additionally, a major gift during the university’s Campaign for the Twenty-First Century named an area in the Pat Walker Health Center after Julian’s mother, Elizabeth Phillips Stewart.
  Aside from financial support of the institution, Julian Stewart has given countless hours to the Razorback community as a volunteer and adviser. He was a member of a fundraising advisory group, the National Development Council, which predates the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century. He recently served three years as chair of the university’s Board of Advisors, on which he continues to serve as a member of the executive committee. Julian and Nana Stewart are members of the Towers of Old Main, a cumulative giving society that recognizes benefactors who have given more than $100,000 to the university, and they are A-plus Life joint members of the Arkansas Alumni Association. Outside of university philanthropy, the Stewarts have given generously to the Fayetteville School System, the American Heart Association of Texas, the Baptist Health System in San Antonio and to the couple’s church, where Julian Stewart served as a deacon for 48 years.
• The Outstanding Foundation honoree for 2010 is the Charles Thomas and Mary Alice Pearson Education Foundation in Rogers. Since its establishment in 1993, the foundation has promoted and supported academically deserving students with financial need at the University of Arkansas. To date, the foundation has given more than $1 million to the School of Law, the Walter J. Lemke department of journalism in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.
  The majority of this support — $878,000 — has created and supported the Charles Pearson Fellowships for outstanding law students. Charles Thomas Pearson was a member of the University of Arkansas School of Law class of 1927, the first graduating class of the law school. His career included positions as assistant prosecuting attorney for Washington County, president of the Washington County Bar Association and prosecutor for the War Crimes Commission in Manila, Philippines. Mary Alice Pearson was the society editor of the Northwest Arkansas Times from the early 1950s until her retirement in 1979. The Pearsons are deceased, but the generous work of their foundation continues today.
• The third University of Arkansas nominated recipient of a 2010 National Philanthropy Day award is Archie Schaffer III from Tyson Foods Inc., who was selected for the Judge’s Special Award. A native of Charleston, Ark., Schaffer graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in natural sciences, and he has been a well-known member of the nonprofit community in northwest Arkansas since moving back to the area in 1991. He began his career with Tyson Foods Inc. that same year, and his roles have included oversight of charitable giving for the company.
  Over the years, his involvement with area nonprofits has exceeded his official job expectations, and he has motivated others to get involved. Schaffer has given generously of his time and energy to many organizations including the Arkansas Leadership Academy, the University of Arkansas Agricultural Development Council and the Arkansas League of Women Voters’ Advisory Board. During the University of Arkansas’ Campaign for the Twenty-First Century, he generously volunteered countless hours in the recruitment of fellow donors. Schaffer currently serves on the advisory boards of the University of Arkansas David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Northwest.
• The 2010 Outstanding Professional Advisor honoree is Jim Harris, executive director of gift & estate planning at the University of Arkansas. Harris helps donors craft deferred and life-income gifts to the university — gifts that assure donors of their legacy through charitable giving. He has facilitated several major gifts to the university that have named academic units and created merit-based and need-based scholarships.
  Harris has served for many years as a board member of the Arkansas Charitable Gift Planning Council. He has presented to various audiences of professionals on issues of gift and estate planning, including the American Association of Law Schools. He has received the Craig Sterne Award for Outstanding Achievement in Taxation and Estate Planning and is a James J. Freeland Tax Scholar. Harris was in private practice as a partner with the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, from 1989-1997, and with Hall, Estill, Hardwick, Gable, Golden & Nelson in Fayetteville from 1997-2000. Prior to his current position at the University of Arkansas, Harris served as the director and associate director of planned giving, and as counsel to the office of university development.