Doyle Z. Williams Plans Return to Faculty After 12 Years as Dean of The Sam M. Walton College of Business

Fayetteville, Ark. - After serving 12 years as dean of the Sam M. Walton College of Business, Doyle Z. Williams, Ph.D., CPA, announced today he will return to the faculty in the summer of 2005.

Williams, 64, was appointed dean of the Walton College and the Sam M. Walton Leadership Chair holder at the University of Arkansas in 1993.

"I had mentioned that I might be preparing to step down, and the time has come," Williams said Monday. "This has been a gratifying year for me, with the rise in the college's ratings and the excellent faculty appointments we have been so fortunate to make. The Walton College is poised to move ahead, and it will be my privilege to observe and applaud those who carry it forward in the next generation."

Under Dean Williams' leadership, the Walton College has been one of the fastest-rising business schools in the nation. In the 2005 edition of U.S. News & World Report, the Walton College was ranked 25th in the nation among undergraduate public business schools. In 1998, the Walton College received a $50 million gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation - the largest gift at the time to a business school. On Jan. 26, 2001, the college officially changed its name to the Sam M. Walton College of Business.

"Doyle Williams is respected internationally as a dean and in his field of accounting," said Chancellor John A. White. "He is an extraordinary leader and a highly accomplished fund-raiser. He clearly understands what it takes to build a top-tier business school. His service to the University of Arkansas has created a legacy of achievement that sets the bar for the future leader of the school. Not only did we gain an incredibly talented professional when Doyle Williams became business dean, but also we gained an equally talented professional in Dr. Maynette Williams, who has devoted herself completely to helping her husband create a nationally respected business school."

Bob Smith, provost and vice-chancellor for Academic Affairs said, "Doyle has been an absolutely spectacular dean. He has guided the college through a period of remarkable growth and development regionally and nationally. He is a recognized leader in business education and accounting, and has played a star role in development of business education curriculum. Walton College has significantly revised its undergraduate curriculum to integrate business into a general baccalaureate program. That unique and unduplicated achievement among many has helped bring Walton College along as a nationally regarded school."

Dr. Smith said there will be a national search for Dean Williams' replacement.

Prior to joining the university, Dean Williams served as the founding dean of the School of Accounting at the University of Southern California, leading the accounting school to be among the top five in the nation. He also served for two years as interim dean of the USC School of Business Administration. He has served on the faculty and as coordinator for the area of accounting at Texas Tech University and was the chairman for the Accounting Education Change Commission from its inception in 1989 to 1993. Dean Williams has authored more than 45 articles, several monographs, and has contributed to more than 10 books.

On July 1, 2003, Dean Williams became vice-chair and chair-elect of AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. AACSB is an international accrediting body for business schools. He became chair of AACSB on July 1, 2004.

Dean Williams' honors include receiving Beta Alpha Psi's National Council Accountant of the Year Award, the California Society of CPAs Distinguished Professor Award, the USC School of Accounting's Distinguished Service Award, the AICPA's Outstanding Accounting Educator Award, the Federation of Schools of Accountancy Faculty Merit Award, the Academy of Business Administration's National Leadership Award, the American Accounting Association's Outstanding Accounting Educator Award, and the Arkansas Society of CPAs' Lifetime Achievement Award in Education. In 2002, he received the American Institute of CPAs' Gold Medal, the Institute's highest honor.

Dean Williams' prior offices include serving as president of the American Accounting Association, vice president and member of the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, vice president and trustee for the California CPA Foundation for Education and Research, president of the Educational Foundation of the Texas Society of CPAs, president of the Administrators of Accounting Programs, president of the Federation of Schools of Accountancy, president of the Southwestern Business Deans' Association, a member of the Advisory Board for the National Commission on Fraudulent Financial Reporting, regent for the Chartered Bank Auditor Program, and chairman of Arkansas Quality Awards Inc.

Dean Williams earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern State University of Louisiana in accounting in 1960 and his Master of Science and Ph.D. in accounting from Louisiana State University in 1962 and 1965, respectively.