FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Ben J. Altheimer Charitable Foundation Inc., a longtime supporter of the University of Arkansas System and its institutions, will provide a $200,000 challenge gift to support technology needs in the UA School of Law.

This grant will assist the Law School in obtaining additional gifts by encouraging others to support the school’s technology needs.

As part of the Campaign for the Twenty-first Century, the School of Law is raising funds for a major building expansion. The Altheimer Foundation’s gift will be used for technology needs in the new addition and in classrooms in the existing building.

Richard Atkinson, dean of the School of Law, said: "We are grateful to the Ben J. Altheimer Charitable Foundation for this generous gift to help us address technology needs in the School of Law. As everyone knows, keeping up with constantly changing technology can be a challenge. This gift will enable the School of Law to continue to provide necessary technology tools and services — tools used daily in legal practices and in courtrooms across America — to our students, faculty and staff."

Ben J. Altheimer, a successful attorney, was born in Pine Bluff, where he practiced law before moving to Chicago and establishing one of that city’s most prestigious law firms in 1910. He frequently returned to Arkansas, where he had acquired farmland near Altheimer. The town was named for his father and uncle, who donated land to the railroad for the establishment of a depot. He established the Ben J. Altheimer Foundation before his death in 1946 to benefit 35 programs in Arkansas, including several within the UA System. Altheimer was the single trustee of the Ben J. Altheimer Foundation until his death, when five trustees designated by him assumed the responsibility for its continuation. It remained existent over 50 years and was succeeded by the Ben J. Altheimer Charitable Foundation, in 1995.

Since its creation, the Ben J. Altheimer Foundation and the Ben J. Altheimer Charitable Foundation have donated millions of dollars to charities and programs across Arkansas, mostly to benefit agriculture in Jefferson County (with particular emphasis on the city of Altheimer) and the law.

The Ben J. Altheimer Charitable Foundation and its predecessor also have previously supported the UA Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Science in Fayetteville as well as other schools of the University of Arkansas System.

This gift counts toward The $300 Million Challenge, the campaign-within-a-campaign. The purpose of the Challenge is to raise $300 million for academic purposes to match the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundations $300 million gift. Challenge funds must be raised between Jan. 1, 2002, and June 30, 2005, the end of the Campaign. The Challenge total stands at $163.6 million, and the overall Campaign total stands at $793 million as of March 31, 2004.