Sam M. Walton College of Business
# Sam M. Walton College of Business

The Sam M. Walton College of Business (Walton College or Walton) is the business school at the University of Arkansas, a public research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Created in 1926, the college is the second-largest college at the University of Arkansas, with over 5,000 undergraduate students as of Fall 2016. Walton College offers undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs and is known nationally for its strong programs in retail, finance, information systems, and supply chain management. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks Walton College among the top business schools in the country. The college has a close relationship with Walmart Stores, Inc., based in nearby Bentonville, Arkansas, and related vendor community.

## History

The School of Business Administration was founded in 1926 by Harvard graduate Charles C. Fichtner, who became the college's first dean. The original curricula covered accounting, banking, finance, general business, industrial management, and marketing. The college gained accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, also known as AACSB International, in 1931.

A $100,000 donation from business owner Barney Lewis, class of 1934, helped establish a professional development program at the college that would later become the Leadership Walton program. In 1996, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation gifted the college $6.7 million that funded the Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development.

### Eponym

The college is named after the founder of Walmart Stores, Inc., Sam Walton, when in October 1998, the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation made a $50 million upfront cash gift. The company is headquartered in nearby Bentonville, Arkansas, and employs hundreds of Walton College graduates. This was the largest ever given to a public business college at the time. This established the "Sam M. Walton College of Business Administration", but the name was shorted to the "Sam M. Walton College of Business" in 2000.

### Leadership

The College of Business has had 10 deans since 1926, and two interim deans.

* Charles C. Fichtner (1926–1940)
* Karl M. Scott (1941–1943)
* Paul W. Milam (1944–1966)
* Acting Dean Merwyn G. Bridenstine (1966–1967)
* John P. Owen (1967–1983)
* Lloyd Seaton (1983–1989)
* Stan Smith (1989–1992)
* Interim Dean Thomas McKinnon (1992–1993)
* Doyle Z. Williams (1993–2005)
* Dan L. Worrell (2005–2012)
* Eli Jones (2012–2015)
* Matthew A. Waller (2015 to present).

## Departments

* Department of Accounting
* Department of Economics
* Department of Finance
* Department of Information Systems
* Department of Management
* Department of Marketing
* Department of Strategy, Entrepreneurship, & Venture Innovation
* Department of Supply Chain Management

## Rankings

Walton College’s undergraduate business program is ranked 39th in the nation and the graduate program is ranked 68th by U.S. News & World Report. Poets&Quants ranks the business school 73rd in North America based on research activity. The Princeton Review lists the Walton M.B.A. among the best M.B.A. programs in the country, along with ranking Walton College of Business #35 in the nation for best graduate entrepreneurship programs. The Wall Street Journal ranks the Walton M.B.A. program 11th for best return on investment in the United States. The analysis, which reviewed federal student loan and post-graduation salary data from 600 business programs, found that students at Walton take on an average of $27,800 in federal student loan debt and go on to earn an average of $106,421 annually two years after graduating.

Walton College is also frequently recognized for its strong supply chain management program. Global research and consulting firm Gartner ranks Walton College’s undergraduate supply chain program the No. 1 program in North America. The graduate supply chain program is ranked No. 2 in North America. U.S. News & World Report ranks the undergraduate supply chain program 10th nationally, while the Walton M.B.A. supply chain specialty track is ranked 20th.

## Leadership Initiatives

In 2020, Walton College created two leadership initiatives geared toward ethics and the customer experience.

* Business Integrity Leadership Initiative - founded by Cindy Moehring
* Customer Centric Leadership Initiative - founded by Andrew L. Murray

## Facilities

Business education at the University of Arkansas began on the third floor Old Main in 1926. Known as the School of Business Administration, four faculty and 21 students began business education at UA. In 1928, the school moved to the former engineering building, which was renamed the Commerce Building.

The College moved to its present location at 220 North McIlroy in 1978 following the completion of the Business Building. It was renamed to Sam M. Walton College of Business Administration following a $50 million donation from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation in 1998. The Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development at 145 North Buchanan was built following a grant from Donald W. Reynolds Foundation in 1996.

Following the Campaign for the 21st Century, the Walton College saw a period of rapid facility growth. Willard J. Walker Hall at 191 North Harmon and the J.B. Hunt Transport Services Center for Academic Excellence at 227 North Harmon opened in 2007 adjacent to the Business Building, enclosing the Linda Sue Shollmier Plaza and creating a business campus within the southern part of the UA campus. The McMillon Innovation Studio, named for alumnus Doug McMillon, was opened in a former retail space at 146 North Harmon near the other business buildings in 2016.

A gallery, with dates used by the College of Business in parentheses, shows the facilities used throughout the years.

* Old Main (1926–1928)
* Ozark Hall (temporary)
* Business Building (1978–present)
* Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development (1996–present)
* Linda Shollmier Plaza (2002–present)
* Shollmier Fountain (2002–present)
* J.B. Hunt Transport Services Center for Academic Excellence (2007–present)
* Willard J. Walker Hall (2007–present)
* McMillon Innovation Studio (2016–present)

## Notable Alumni

* Vern Clark, retired admiral who served as the Chief of Naval Operations of the United States Navy
* William T. Dillard, founder and former president, chairman and CEO of Dillard's
* William T. Dillard II, chairman and CEO of Dillard's
* Joe T. Ford, vice chairman of the Augusta National Golf Club and former CEO and co-founder of Alltel
* Scott T. Ford, CEO of Westrock Group, LLC and board of directors of AT&T
* John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart U.S.
* Jerry Jones, owner, president, and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys
* Brandi Joplin, CFO of Sam’s Club
* Anthony J. Lewis, former CFO and vice president of AT&T
* Ricardo Martinelli, Panamanian politician and businessman who was the 36th president of Panama
* Mack McLarty, former CEO of CenterPoint Energy who served as President Bill Clinton's first White House Chief of Staff
* Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart Inc.
* Gary Norcross, former chairman, president, and CEO of Fidelity National Information Services (FIS)
* John N. Roberts, III, president and CEO of J.B. Hunt
* Barry Switzer, former football coach at The University of Oklahoma and former coach of the Dallas Cowboys
* James Kirk Thompson, chairman of J.B. Hunt
* Donald John Tyson, former president and CEO of Tyson Foods
* John H. Tyson, chairman of Tyson Foods
* Jim Walton, chairman of Arvest Bank and former board of directors at Walmart Inc.
* S. Robson Walton, former senior vice president and chairman of Walmart Inc. and principal owner of the Denver Broncos
* Ed Wilson, CEO and founder of Dreamcatcher Media LLC, former president of CBS Enterprises, NBC Enterprises, and Fox Broadcasting Company

## Notable Faculty Members

* Varun Grover, Distinguished Professor of Information Systems and George & Boyce Billingsley Endowed Chair at the Department of Information Systems. He is one of the top information systems researchers and business management scientists in the world
* Mary Lacity, Distinguished Professor of Information Systems, Director of the Blockchain Center of Excellence, and Senior Editor for MIS Quarterly Executive. She is known for her research in automation, outsourcing and blockchain and is one of only three academics to ever be inducted into The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals Hall of Fame
* Matthew A. Waller, Dean, Sam M. Walton Leadership Chair in Business, and Professor of Supply Chain Management. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute and Private Equity Advisory Board of Natural Capital
* Remko Van Hoek, Clinical Professor of Supply Chain Management who has held supply chain and procurement executive roles at Nike, Inc., PwC and Disney, and is a fellow of Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply and Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport
* Molly Rapert, Associate Professor of Marketing, Director for the Walton College of Business Center for Teaching Effectiveness, and recipient of the Marketing Management Association's Top-in-Nation Marketing Faculty Award
