Sam M. Walton College of Business
Type | Public |
---|---|
Established | 1926 |
Parent institution | University of Arkansas |
Dean | Matthew A. Waller |
Students | 6,132 (2016)[1] |
Undergraduates | 5,675 (2016)[1] |
Postgraduates | 457 (2016)[1] |
Location | , , U.S. 36°03′55″N 94°10′28″W / 36.06531°N 94.17434°W |
Affiliations | University of Arkansas |
Website | walton |
The Sam M. Walton College of Business (often known as Walton College or abbreviated WCOB on campus) is the business college at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Created in 1926, the college is the second-largest college at the University, with over 5,000 undergraduate students as of Fall 2016. Walton College is known nationally for a strong emphasis on retail, finance, information systems, and supply chain management. The college has a close relationship with Walmart Stores, Inc., based in nearby Bentonville, Arkansas, and related vendor community.
The Sam Walton College of Business is among the top 25 undergraduate business schools and ranked in the top fifty graduate business schools in the nation in results published by US News and World Report. The Master of Business Administration program is often ranked in the top 50 graduate business schools in the US.[2]
History
The School of Business Administration was established within the University of Arkansas in 1926.[3]
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.[4] 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 Supply Chain Management
Honors
Academic rankings | |
---|---|
National | |
Forbes[5] | 283 |
U.S. News & World Report[6] | 135 (tie) |
Washington Monthly[7] | 208 |
WSJ/College Pulse[8] | 444 |
Global | |
ARWU[9] | 501 (tie) |
QS[10] | 801 (tie) |
THE[11] | 501 (tie) |
U.S. News & World Report[12] | 650 (tie) |
Walton College is ranked as the 26th top public business school in the nation, and is ranked 43rd among all public and private schools.[13] The Information Systems department is ranked 1st in the world for research productivity in top journals and has been consistently recognized among the top 5 Information Systems departments.[14] It has also been recognized for its 13th ranked Marketing program among all US business schools (6th among public schools), 19th ranked Corporate Strategy program (6th among public schools),11th ranked Accounting program in its division, 19th ranked public Supply Chain Management program,[15] and 39th ranked public Masters in Business Administration program.
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[citation needed]
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.[4] 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.[16]
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
- Justin Boyd, pharmacist and politician representing the Fort Smith area in the Arkansas House of Representatives from [17]
- Timothy L. Brooks, lawyer and judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas from 2014 to present
- William T. Dillard II
- Scott Flippo, business owner and politician representing the Bull Shoals Lake area in the Arkansas State Senate
- James Hannah, Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court from 2005 to 2015
- Bart Hester, politician representing part of Benton County in the Arkansas State Senate[18]
- George Lavender, businessman and politician in the Texas House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015
- Greg Leding, businessman and politician representing Fayetteville in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 2011-2017
- Doug McMillon, Chief Executive Officer, Wal-Mart[19]
- Marcus Monk, professional football and basketball player
- Marshall Wright, lawyer and politician representing St. Francis County in the Arkansas House of Representatives[20]
- Johnny Carver, sports author [21]
See also
- Varun Grover, Walton professor and chair of the Department of Information Systems, noted for his information systems research
References
- ^ a b c "Fall 2016 11th Day Enrollment Report" (PDF). University of Arkansas Office of Institutional Research. October 20, 2016. p. 3. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
- ^ Walton College reporting U.S. News and Report college survey results.
- ^ "University of Arkansas Walton College History". Retrieved 2015-12-31.
- ^ a b Honan, William H. (October 7, 1998). "Business School At Arkansas U. Is Getting Gift Of $50 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
- ^ "America's Top Colleges 2024". Forbes. September 6, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ "2023-2024 Best National Universities Rankings". U.S. News & World Report. September 18, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
- ^ "2024 National University Rankings". Washington Monthly. August 25, 2024. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ "2025 Best Colleges in the U.S." The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse. September 4, 2024. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Rankings_ARWU
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "QS World University Rankings 2025". Quacquarelli Symonds. June 4, 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
- ^ "World University Rankings 2024". Times Higher Education. September 27, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
- ^ "2024-2025 Best Global Universities Rankings". U.S. News & World Report. June 24, 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
- ^ "Rankings | About | Walton College | University of Arkansas". walton.uark.edu. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ^ "Walton College Tied for No. 1 in World in Information Systems Research Productivity". University of Arkansas News. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ^ "Business Week Ranks Walton College Marketing and Corporate Strategy in Top 20". University of Arkansas News. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ^ Neiswanger, Robbie (October 23, 2016). "UA's McMillon lab fosters innovation". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
- ^ "Justin Boyd". arkansashouse.org. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
- ^ "Bart Hester's Biography". votesmart.org. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
- ^ "Doug McMillon". Retrieved 2016-07-22.
- ^ "Marshall Wright". ballotpedia. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
- ^ "Epic Spotlight: Johnny Carver". Uark.edu. Archived from the original on 2017-10-26. Retrieved 2017-10-25.