The Arkansas Business Hall of Fame was created by the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County) in 1999. The objectives of the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame are to honor outstanding business leaders whose accomplishments have brought lasting fame to Arkansas, to highlight the growing economy of Arkansas and its wide range of opportunities, and to preserve the legacy of Arkansas’s finest business leaders for generations to come.

For many decades, Arkansas had the reputation—both within the state and nationally—of being a low-income, backward state. The Walton College saw a need to recognize publicly those Arkansas business leaders who have made enormous economic contributions to the state, the nation, and, in many instances, the world. Arkansas has produced such major business leaders as Sam Walton, Don Tyson, William Dillard, Jack Stephens, and J. B. and Johnelle Hunt.

The Arkansas Business Hall of Fame annually inducts no more than four outstanding business leaders who are Arkansans by birth or by choice. The selection process begins with a grassroots effort requesting nominations from individuals around the state. A nominating committee of volunteer business and community leaders also encourages communities and organizations to submit nominations. Criteria for consideration include a significant impact as a business leader, concern for improving the community, a display of ethics in all business dealings, and an age over sixty. The Walton College reaches across the state and even outside the state to gain a representative group of nominations. Next, a selection committee of business leaders meets to determine the inductees. All nominations are kept on file for five years.

The Walton College hosts an induction dinner each February in Little Rock (Pulaski County). The after-dinner program celebrates each of the inductees through a video biography, a personal introduction by a UA representative or volunteer, and an acceptance speech by the inductee (or, in the case of a deceased inductee, a member of the family). Inductees are presented with a medal and a glass-and-metal award.

The permanent Arkansas Business Hall of Fame is housed in the visitors’ atrium of the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development, the conference facility of the Walton College on the UA campus. As of the 2007 induction ceremony, thirty-eight business leaders have been inducted into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame

For additional information:
Arkansas Business Hall of Fame. http://waltoncollege.uark.edu/halloffame/ (accessed March 13, 2007).

Arkansas Business Hall of Fame. Arkansas Business. http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/people_hall_fame.asp (accessed May 9, 2007).

Dixie T. Kline
Sam M. Walton College of Business