FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Campaign Arkansas, the capital campaign aimed at advancing academic opportunity on the University of Arkansas campus, is continuing its positive momentum in its final year. The campaign, which began on July 1, 2012, includes a goal of raising $1.25 billion by its conclusion on June 30, 2020. More than $1.12 billion had been raised as of Aug. 30.

Campaign Arkansas is raising funds for scholarships and fellowships, endowed faculty chairs, capital projects, interdisciplinary academic programs and other priority areas that will advance the university’s goals and objectives. The private support garnered through the campaign provides the resources, facilities, experiences and campus environment that ensure the U of A remains a top-tier research institution for students while also advancing Arkansas and building a better world.

Student success is an overarching focus for the campaign, and the Advance Arkansas initiative supports this objective by providing scholarship funding for Arkansas students who have the desire to graduate from the university but lack the financial resources to do so. Advance Arkansas was created in 2017 as a part of Campaign Arkansas, and nearly $7 million has been raised so far.

The university’s new Student Success Center is another key component and an emphasis for the remainder of the campaign and beyond. The new center will unify, enhance and fully realize the alignment of a personalized academic, financial and social support system for all students at the university and convey the message that academic success is attainable for all students.

A groundbreaking celebration for the center took place on Sept. 12. Key spaces in the facility include a 360 Advising Studio, Life Design Studio, World Languages and Global Initiatives Studio, Writing Studio, Communication Studio, STEM Studio, mentoring and study spaces, dining options and more.

The university is also working to strengthen its research engine and economic development capabilities through strategic initiatives of both the Office of Research and Innovation and the Office of Economic Development. This includes supporting preparation of proposals for research funding, grant management, entrepreneurial mentoring, faculty and external partners and gap funding to commercialize technologies and creative works. It also includes streamlining campus initiatives targeting economic growth and social impact.

Steuart L. Walton will lead Campaign Arkansas as chair this year as the campaign reaches its conclusion.

Walton is an entrepreneur, founder and chairman of Game Composites, co-founder of the Runway Group, and sits on the Walmart Board of Directors.

He was born and raised in Bentonville and has a special interest in giving back to his hometown and state through both personally directed contributions and the Walton Family Foundation’s Home Region program. He has played a vital role in a wide range of foundation-funded projects, from supporting the development of recreational multi-use trails in Northwest Arkansas to donating trees to individual residents to help maintain the natural beauty of the region.

As cycling enthusiasts, Walton and his brother Tom have helped develop Oz Trails, and donated to groups including Pedal It Forward, an advocacy group in Northwest Arkansas and the National Interscholastic Cycling Association. In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors of several groups, including Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Walton holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

“Steuart brings a fresh perspective to the campaign and will fuel the momentum of the final year and beyond,” said Chancellor Joe Steinmetz. “He has a history of bringing innovative ideas and projects to Arkansas, and I look forward to working with him to move the university forward in new and meaningful ways.”

Walton joins a distinguished group of prior campaign co-chairs including Boyce Billingsley, Marilyn Bogle and Johnelle Hunt, who served together as the initial Campaign Arkansas co-chairs. Other former co-chairs serving with Walton on the campaign’s executive committee include Bill Dillard II, Doug and Shelley McMillon, Reynie Rutledge, and Bob and Sandra Connor.

Walton’s uncle, Rob Walton, and father, Jim Walton, both served as chairs of the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century in 1998-1999 and 2002-2003 respectively.

“It’s an honor to lead the university through its final year of Campaign Arkansas,” said Walton. “For 150 years, the university has been a key player in the state’s business community, and as we look toward the future, I’m excited about how this campaign will transform and strengthen the university, this region and state.”

About Campaign Arkansas: Campaign Arkansas is the ongoing capital campaign for the University of Arkansas to raise private gift support for the university’s academic mission and other key priorities. The campaign’s goal is to raise $1.25 billion to support academic and need-based scholarships, technology enhancements, new and renovated facilities, undergraduate, graduate and faculty research, study abroad opportunities and other innovative programs. The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in a wide spectrum of disciplines as it works to fulfill its public land-grant mission to serve Arkansas and beyond as a partner, resource and catalyst.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among fewer than 3 percent of colleges and universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.