Walton College Honors Outstanding Students

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas held its 19th annual awards banquet on Thursday, April 19, 2012, at the Fayetteville Town Center.

In addition to recognizing the achievements of its outstanding students, the Walton College honored three alumni for their business and community achievements.

• Outstanding Service Award – Nathan Sanko, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in economics 1992.
• Entrepreneur of the Year Award – Coleman Sisson, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in data processing and quantitative analysis 1979.
• Lifetime Achievement Award – Mark Sutton, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in finance 1977.

Sanko currently owns three companies – No Limit Wheels, a manufacturer of aftermarket ATV/UTV and golf cart wheels; No Limit Safety, a manufacturer of safety equipment including the next generation, fully-adjustable Hans device; and Back 2 Basics Beef, LLC, a large-scale ranching operation – and is an investor in Merchant View, an entrepreneurial start-up that offers proprietary solutions for tracking, verifying and reporting retail activity by leveraging emerging mobile technology. Sanko’s involvement in Merchant View began when he met the company’s founders as students in professor Carol Reeves’ entrepreneurship class at the Walton College. A self-described “career entrepreneur,” Sanko often judges business plans for the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the Kauffman Foundation and the Walton College. He has coached successful business plan teams at the Walton College for several years.

Sisson, who currently lives in Woodlands, Texas, held managerial and executive roles at a variety of computer and technology companies, including Compaq Computer Corp., Powersoft and Liberate Technologies, for more than 30 years. A chance encounter with Jimmy Buffett in 1989 led to Sisson serving as Buffett’s unofficial technical adviser on new media projects, including the creation of Buffet’s online radio station, Radio Margaritaville. In 2003, Sisson made his role official with the founding of his company BubbleUp Ltd., an award-winning brand development and digital marketing company that has grown to include offices in Texas, New England, Tennessee and Oregon. In addition to managing digital media and the online presence for Buffett’s Margaritaville brand, BubbleUp works with a full roster of internationally recognized musicians and Fortune 500 companies.

Sutton, who lives in Austin, Texas, retired in December 2005 as chairman and chief executive officer of UBS Americas. Sutton began his career in financial services in 1978 as a financial adviser for Merrill Lynch. He was a financial adviser at Rotan Mosle when Paine Webber acquired the firm in 1983. At Paine Webber, Sutton moved from production, holding a variety of management roles. Sutton joined Kidder Peabody in 1992 as chief executive officer of the brokerage unit and chief executive officer of the investment services division. When Paine Webber acquired Kidder Peabody in 1995, Sutton became president of Paine Webber’s Private Client Group. UBS acquired Paine Webber in 2000 and Sutton was announced as president and chief operating officer of Wealth Management USA. Sutton is still involved in financial services as nonexecutive chairman of Munder Capital Management and senior adviser to Crestview. Sutton currently serves on the Dean's Executive Advisory Board of the Walton College.

Outstanding Student Awards

The Walton College’s outstanding undergraduate awards include:

• Accounting – Audrey Davidson, Akihiro Katsura, Matthew Krieger, Jaclyn Nutt
• Economics – Brinkley Cook-Campbell
• Economics,  Arts & Sciences – Keely Dye
• Economics, International Business – Joseph Van Matre
• Finance – Badr Alasem, Drew Johnson, Phillip Kosmitis, Jessica Lind, Kenton Tindall, Jeff Woody
• Information Systems – Joseph Hogan, Kerri Kizer
• Management – Sarah Holtzen, Morgan Stellpflug
• Marketing – Tyler Clark, Rachel Dennis, Kelsy Lichtenburg, Ariel Spencer, Keri Wood
• Supply Chain Management – Amanda Hancock
• Ralph Treat Outstanding Cooperative Student Award – Lindsey Hansen

The Presidential Scholar award for the Walton College went to Kristen Zachary. The Sam M. Walton College of Business Student Leadership Award was awarded to Amanda Hancock. The Doyle Z. Williams Student Leadership Award was given to Kayln Williams. The Beta Gamma Sigma Award went to Sarah Fiscus. The Outstanding Graduating Senior was Audrey Davidson. Recognized as Senior Scholars were Garrett Frost, Jin Kyoung Kim, Kimberly Keith, Timothy Keith, Phillip Kosmitis, Mason Luedeker and Ariel Spencer. The college’s First-Ranked Senior Scholars were Homer Allbritton, Rachel Dennis, Ashley Jancuska, Lucas Massoth, Katie McClellan, Kyle Mills Morgan Stellpflug and Keri Wood.

Graduate Student Awards

The Walton College’s outstanding graduate awards include:

• Master of Business Administration – Bethany Haefner
• Managerial Master of Business Administration – Glenn Atkins
• Master of Accountancy – Aaron Davis
• Master of Arts in Economics – Jared Reber
• Full-time Master of Information Systems – Christine Iyamuragiye
• Professional Master of Information Systems –Edward Spaunhurst.