U of A alumni Gerald Alley B.S.B.A.’73 and Troy C. Alley Jr. B.S.E.E.’69 will visit the campus April 3-6 as the co-recipients of the 2023 Arkansas Alumni Association Johnson Fellowship.

The Johnson Fellows program is named for Dr. Jeff Johnson B.A.'70, and his wife, Marcia. The Johnsons endowed the program in 2009 with the specific purpose of bringing esteemed alumni back to the U of A campus to engage and inspire students.

“Marcia and I are excited and honored to welcome Gerald and Troy Alley to campus this year as the first co-recipients of the Johnson Fellowship,” Johnson said. “Individually, Gerald and Troy have accomplished so much, and together they’ve been successful beyond compare. We are very fortunate that students will get to hear from both of these incredible men during their visit to campus.”

During their visit to Fayetteville, the Alley brothers will meet with students across campus to share how their hard work, experiences and time at the U of A have propelled them to successful careers. The Pine Bluff natives started Con-Real LP, a construction company and real estate business in 1979. Since its opening, Con-Real has grown into a major force in construction and real estate. Headquartered in Arlington, Texas, it opened offices in Dallas and Houston, as well as Little Rock and San Francisco. Con-Real regularly provides services to Fortune 500 companies and is the leading African American-owned construction and real estate firm in Texas. 

Gerald Alley

Gerald Alley serves as the president and chief executive officer of Con-Real. He enrolled in the U of A at age 16, majoring in finance in the Sam M. Walton College of Business. 

Gerald Alley entered graduate school at Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 1974 and graduated with a Master of Business Administration the following year. He pursued additional study at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago, and was recruited by Sanger-Harris, a retail corporation based in Dallas. 

Gerald Alley also co-founded the Candace Alley Family Foundation, which supports organizations providing for the needs of underprivileged students, and has served on numerous boards, including at SMU and the U of A.

Troy Alley

Troy C. Alley Jr. serves as the executive vice president and real estate leader of Con-Real. He majored in electrical engineering and graduated from the U of A in 1969. 

After graduation, Troy Alley worked for a defense contractor in Maryland designing radar and sonar systems for the Navy and Air Force before pursuing his interest in sales and real estate, earning a master’s degree in real estate and finance from Southern Methodist University. At the U of A, he is known as the founder of the Engineering Career Awareness Program, a recruitment and retention program for underrepresented engineering students.

For more information on the Alleys and the Johnson Fellows program, visit www.ArkansasAlumni.org/JohnsonFellows.

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