FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — William R. “Bill” and Cacilia Howard of El Dorado, Ark., have established a chair in the department of management in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas.

The William R. and Cacilia Howard Chair in Management was established with a $1.5 million charitable remainder trust. The gift has been matched by $1.5 million from the Matching Gift Program. When the trust matures, the chair will be supported by a $3 million endowment.

Anne M. O’Leary-Kelly, professor of management and chair of the department of management, has been appointed the first holder of the chair.

UA Chancellor John A. White said: “We appreciate Bill and Cacilia Howard’s generosity. They have long been strong supporters of the University of Arkansas. Their extraordinary gift, in the long run, will allow us to recruit and retain nationally competitive faculty, who will enrich the educational experiences of our students. In the short run, it allows us to recognize and reward an exceptional member of the UA faculty, Dr. Anne M. O'Leary-Kelly. ”

Walton College Dean Doyle Z. Williams said, “The Howards’ wonderful gift has enabled the college to retain one of our most outstanding faculty members. Dr. O’Leary-Kelly has led the management department for the past academic year while continuing to excel in research and in the classroom. She is active on a national level in professional organizations as well as in the campus community. We are very grateful to the Howards for this support of her work.”

A native of Hampton, Ark., Bill Howard served in the 3rd Army Headquarters in England in World War II. He crossed the Channel 12 days after D-Day and served under General Patton. Bill and Cacilia met in Germany after the war, and he brought her to the United States. She became a naturalized citizen in 1951. Bill Howard attended the University of Arkansas as a veteran of World War II and received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in general business in 1951 from the Walton College. He also completed 30 hours toward a master’s in business. Cacilia worked on campus and in the county tax assessor’s office while Bill was in school.

Bill Howard went to work in the accounting department for Lion Oil Co., which merged with Monsanto in 1956. Tosco Corp. purchased the oil facilities from Monsanto in 1972, and Bill Howard retired as assistant controller of Tosco. Cacilia Howard worked as an accounting assistant for Col. Thomas H. Barton, the founder of Lion Oil Co., and continued to work in the accounting department after Col. Barton’s death. In their retirement, the couple spends time waterskiing, hunting on what was his grandfather’s land along the river bottoms of the Ouachita River, and scuba diving in Cozumel. Cacilia’s hobby is painting in oil. They both continue to be avid Razorback fans.

O’Leary-Kelly received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of Michigan in 1981 and a doctoral degree in organizational behavior and human resources from Michigan State University in 1990. She previously served on the faculties of Texas A&M University and the University of Dayton and joined the Walton College in 1997.

From left, Anne O'Leary-Kelly, Bill Howard, Cacilia Howard and Doyle Williams.

She recently chaired the University of Arkansas Diversity Task Force and served as chair of the UA Academic Standards Committee. In the Walton College, she has served as director of the doctoral program in management. She received the 2003 Excellence in Research award from the Walton College.

O’Leary-Kelly’s research interests include the study of aggressive work behavior (violence, sexual harassment) and individual attachments to work organizations (psychological contracts, identification and cynicism). She teaches organizational behavior and human resource management.

O’Leary-Kelly currently serves on the executive committee of the Organizational Behavior Division of the Academy of Management and was the co-recipient of its Outstanding Publication in Organizational Behavior Award. She also received the Dorothy Harlow Outstanding Paper Award given by its Gender and Diversity in Organizations Division.

In 1999, she was selected as the Faculty Mentor of the Year by the Compact for Faculty Diversity, Southern Regional Educational Board.

O’Leary-Kelly’s work has appeared in numerous publications, including the Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, Journal of Management Inquiry, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, Research in Organizational Change and Development and American Business Law Journal among others.

As principal investigator on a three-year $603,942 National Science Foundation grant, O’Leary-Kelly is leading a research team studying the under-representation of women and minorities in the information technology workforce - with the ultimate goal of increasing their representation in the workforce. Other Walton College team members include Bill C. Hardgrave, executive director of the Information Technology Research Institute; Vicki R. McKinney, assistant professor of information systems; and Darryl D. Wilson, assistant professor of information systems.

O’Leary-Kelly also serves on a team of Walton College researchers who are using a three-year $500,000 grant from the United States Department of Justice to study the effects of domestic violence in the workplace. Along with Carol Reeves, holder of the Cecil and Gwendolyn Cupp Applied Professorship in Entrepreneurship, O’Leary-Kelly is studying how much domestic violence costs businesses and what can be done to address the problem.

In addition, she has consulted with private businesses on workplace and diversity issues.

Campaign for the Twenty-First Century Update

. Campaign for the Twenty-First Century goal: $1 billion
 
. Start date: July 1, 1998
 
. End date: June 30, 2005
 
. The Campaign total — counts all gifts and pledges to academic and athletic purposes as of May 31, 2005: $970.3 million; 97 percent of the goal in 99 percent of the time.
 
. Campaign funds are being used for: student and faculty endowments, program creation and enhancement, capital projects, annual support and endowment growth.