Arkansas Real Estate Foundation Endows Walton College Scholarship

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Members of the Arkansas Real Estate Foundation met with Walton College Dean Matt Waller in December to finalize details of the Arkansas Real Estate Foundation Endowed Scholarship. Pictured are (standing, left to right) Doug Smith, Ken Gill, Karen Crowson, Stuart Mackey, Waller and (seated) Tracey Rancifer and Paulette Richie.

The Arkansas Real Estate Foundation has endowed a scholarship to help students in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas pursue a career in real estate.

The $62,000 donation will create the Arkansas Real Estate Foundation Endowed Scholarship.

"We thank the Arkansas Real Estate Foundation for its support of our students and its belief in the importance of educating Arkansans about the business of real estate," said Matt Waller, Walton College dean and the Sam M. Walton Leadership Chair. "This generous gift will help our students be leaders in the real estate industry in Arkansas for years to come."

Scholarship recipients are to be Walton College juniors or seniors from Arkansas earning a degree in finance, with a concentration in real estate, who have demonstrated financial need.

The foundation said the gift of the scholarship was to encourage and assist students to pursue a college education with a concentration in real estate by providing assistance for an education-related expenses including tuition, books, fees and room and board.

"We are charged with educating the public and practitioners about real estate, and we felt there was no better way to do that than support an institution that is changing the future of our market," said Stuart S. Mackey, chair of the real estate foundation and executive vice president of the Hathaway Group in Little Rock. "We are excited to invest in the education of students in Arkansas. An educated public benefits all of us since we see real estate as a part of everyone's life — we all deal with real estate, be that residential or commercial."

The scholarship, up to $3,500 annually, will be awarded at the end of each spring semester for the next academic year. The scholarship is renewable, but the recipient must reapply annually.

The foundation said it hoped the endowment could grow to the point that it funded two scholarships in an academic year.