Walton College Recognizes Outstanding Student, Alumni Achievement at Awards Banquet

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas held its 20^th annual awards banquet on Thursday, April 18, 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 – Ann Bordelon, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in accounting and computer information systems, 1989.
• Entrepreneur of the Year Award – Craig Hughes, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in marketing and transportation, 1976.
• Lifetime Achievement Award – Charlie McMurtry, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in marketing, 1970.

Bordelon was appointed senior vice president and chief financial officer, Walmart Asia, in February 2013. She joined Walmart in 2003 as assistant controller and has served in a variety of finance and accounting roles, most recently as senior vice president and chief financial officer of Sam’s Club. Prior to joining Walmart, Bordelon was a senior manager in Ernst & Young’s Assurance and Advisory Services Business. She also worked for Tyson Foods in finance and accounting positions.

Hughes is founder and chief executive officer of Total Transit Inc., in Phoenix, Ariz., which operates the largest hybrid cab fleet in North America. The company kicked off its Prius project on Earth Day in 2008, putting 20 Prius taxis on the street with a promise to have 250 hybrid cabs in three years. Its Discount Cab division now operates over 700 hybrid taxis, saving more than 2.5 million gallons of fuel a year. Total Transit, founded in 1984 by Hughes and his wife, Christine, currently operates a taxi dispatch center that handles more than 11,000 calls a day on average.

McMurtry, who lives in Bella Vista, had a 40-year career with Fortune 500 companies, including NCR, Walmart, Dell and Hewlett-Packard. He retired in August 2012 as a senior vice president in Hewlett-Packard’s Information Technology Division. McMurtry started his career in a sales position with NCR in Little Rock, working in their newly formed computer sales division. During his more than 14 years there he held numerous positions in sales and systems engineering. As an account executive responsible for Walmart, he helped NCR gain its first foothold with the retail giant. In 1987, he joined Walmart in its IT Division, spending 14 years there, including time as vice president, applications development.

Outstanding Student Awards

The Walton College’s outstanding undergraduate awards include:

• Accounting – Xi Ai, Lindsey Bolen, Kayla Kimmons
• Economics – Matthew Seubert
• Economics, Arts & Sciences – Nicholas Candido
• Finance – Sean Duncan, Rohit Mittal, Tanner Moore, Garrett Phelps, Jessamyn Ratcliff
• Information Systems – Spencer Stokes, Bradley Wilson
• International Business – Lauren Thompson
• Management – Keri Stubbs, Samantha Walker
• Marketing – Dylan Breeding, Shelby Mohs, Marlee Rogers, Victoria Vela, Kristen Zachary
• Retail – Elijah Garcia
• Supply Chain Management – Joseph Gilmore
• Ralph Treat Outstanding Cooperative Student Award – Ryann Hartley

The Presidential Scholar award for the Walton College went to Addison Scott. The Sam M. Walton College of Business Student Leadership Award was given to William Fugitt. The Doyle Z. Williams Student Leadership Award was given to Matthew Seubert. The Beta Gamma Sigma Award went to Natalie Van Pelt. The Outstanding Graduating Senior was Matthew Seubert. Recognized as Senior Scholars were Michael Hyatt, Jingcheng Tesa Kuay and Colton Mason. The college’s First-ranked Senior Scholars were Ananya Banerjee, Joseph Gilmore, Grant Nunn, Marlee Rogers, Anna Ward and Kristen Zachary.

Graduate Student Awards

The Walton College’s outstanding graduate awards include:

• Master of Business Administration – Andrew Caldwell
• Managerial Master of Business Administration – Sydney Norwood
• Master of Accountancy – Audrey Davidson
• Master of Arts in Economics – Cameron Fincher
• Full-time Master of Information Systems – Brinda Arounnothay
• Professional Master of Information Systems – Tyler Warren.