Two Awards Established in Memory of Business Professor

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Joseph Ziegler (far right) participated in many study abroad experiences but also enjoyed traveling in his free time, often with his fellow business professors. The above visit to the Grand Canyon took place in the mid-1990s.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Two endowed awards totaling $50,000 have been established in the Sam M. Walton College of Business to pay tribute to Joseph A. Ziegler, a beloved professor in the Walton College who passed away earlier this year. The awards are being funded by donations from friends and family members and have been established by Ziegler’s wife, Ann Marie.

“Dr. Ziegler was greatly admired across campus and respected by many of our alumni,” said Eli Jones, dean of the Walton College. “He contributed significantly to the success of the economics department and international education, so it is fitting that these awards will bear his name. We are humbled and appreciative that his family has chosen to memorialize him in this way.”

The Joseph A. Ziegler Study Abroad Award is being created with a $25,000 gift and will honor Ziegler’s legacy of creating opportunities for global business education for Walton College students. The award will provide resources to support international experiences for deserving students who are enrolled in a degree program in the Walton College and do not have access to the study abroad resources of the University of Arkansas Honors College.

Similarly, the Joseph A. Ziegler International Business Student Endowed Award was also established with a $25,000 gift to commemorate Ziegler’s efforts to globalize the education of Walton College students and his leadership in creating the Bachelor of Science in International Business degree. Undergraduate students enrolled in the B.S.I.B. degree program in the Walton College will be eligible.

“My children and I are so happy that the Walton College decided to remember Joe with this study abroad award,” Ann Marie Ziegler said. “Joe loved to travel and wanted as many students as possible to study overseas. Experiencing another culture, he felt, would open their eyes to a world of possibilities. He spent over 20 years setting up different opportunities to appeal to a wide range of students. This award will allow students with limited resources to take advantage of these programs.”

Ziegler was a professor of economics in the business college for 40 years before he passed away at the age of 67. He received a bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s University in Minnesota and his doctorate from Notre Dame. After serving four years on the faculty of Clemson University, he joined the University of Arkansas faculty in 1973. He served as chair of the department of economics for 22 years from 1987 to 2009, a time marked by a dramatic increase in the department’s national and international reputation. During that time, he also served as director of international business studies in the Walton College and pioneered major expansions of the college’s study abroad programs and international partnerships. In 2010, he led the consolidation of international business programs as director of the Walton College global engagement office.

Bill Curington, interim chair of the economics department, served as co-director of the office. “It was always stimulating to work with Joe,” Curington said. “He was a big idea guy who always wanted to push the envelope in building the Walton College into an international business school. His career is marked by great strides we have made toward that goal. The global education that Walton College students will receive for years to come is Joe Ziegler’s professional legacy.”