5210 Grand Avenue • Fort Smith, AR 72903www.uafortsmith.edu

The Newsletter of the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Foundation | July 2010 | Vol. 2 - No. 1

Ad ancesVUA Fort Smith Foundation, Inc.

On a gorgeous, breezy April afternoon at the Stubblefield Center, UA Fort Smith and the Fort Smith community were first

introduced to Numa, a 15-foot, 2,000-pound bronze sculpture commissioned with funds from estate gifts made by Pearl

D. Raney and Sally McSpadden Boreham.

It was more than a year ago that Janice Beran, wife of Chancellor Paul B. Beran, Ph.D., initially

envisioned a striking, larger-than-life representation of the University’s mascot

and formed a diverse committee of energetic, dedicated people from throughout the University and

community to help realize that vision.

The sculptor the committee chose, North Carolina’s Jon Hair, has more than 30 major public art commissions to his credit, including a

35-foot bronze-and-steel monument at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado. Local companies engineered, designed, and constructed Numa’s pedestal

and the surrounding plaza.

Numa is intended not only to serve as a dramatic embodiment of the University’s spirit and culture, a piece around which traditions will be built, but also as a showpiece and symbol for the greater Fort

Smith community, to which UA Fort Smith owes so much gratitude for more than eight decades of support.

Over the years, the University’s mascot, like the institution it represents, has taken a variety of forms. They have ranged from snuggly to savage, realistic to modernistic, but Numa is hands-down the most imposing incarnation in UA Fort Smith’s 82-year history. Stop by and say hello next time you’re in the area—but watch those teeth.

Numa may be the first major commissioned outdoor sculpture on the UA Fort Smith campus, but he won’t be the last. The UA Fort Smith Foundation recently

created the Numa Society to help raise funds for additional pieces. Fifty charter members are invited to give $3,000 each (or pledge $3,000 over three years)

to be used for commissioning additional pieces of sculpture. As a commemorative gift, charter members will receive one of only 50 limited-edition, numbered

bronze maquettes—miniatures of Numa on black granite bases. Contact the Foundation at (479) 788-7020 or foundation@uafortsmith.edu to learn more.

Mrs. Donnie Pendergraft celebrated her 80th birthday March 27 at an afternoon party on the UA Fort Smith campus with her family, friends, and 19 “Pendergraft Kids”—students and alumni who have benefited from scholarships funded by the Pendergraft family.

Those 19 were only a small contingent of the 90 UA Fort Smith graduates the Pendergrafts have helped over the years with more than $270,000 in total scholarships. Today, those graduates, who hold degrees in fields ranging

from accounting to athletic training and radiography to rhetoric, live and work across the central U.S. from Mississippi to Wisconsin. Now that’s impact!

Foundation ScholarShipS by the numberS

and of them, Whitney Webb of Fort Smith–who was one of national finalists for StuNurse magazine’s nursing

earned associate degrees, and earned certificates.

4047

3 of those 90 Foundation scholars earned bachelor’s degrees,

Of the

private gifts from individuals, corporations, and other foundations.

572 students who graduated in May 2010,

90 had benefited along the way from Foundation-funded scholarships–scholarships funded entirely by

They ranged in age from (a man who earned an associate degree in electronics technology) to (a woman who earned an associate degree in nursing technology).

1954

5

44 of them were fromSebastian County,24 from

Crawford County, and 8from Oklahoma.

Of their29 different fields of study, the mostcommon four-year majors were nursing

and business administration, with5 graduates each. The most common two-year major was dental hygiene, with graduates.14

They maintained an average GPA of through fall ’09,3.311

4.00a perfect on the way to herbachelor’s in nursing.

The Foundation disbursed a total of$329,545.64

to them over their UA Fort Smith careers–

$4,110.50 per bachelor and$3119.31

per associate.

an average of

student of the year honor–maintained

Meet UMA

The Numa SocieTy

Happy Birthday, Donnie!

advanceS - The Newsletter of the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Foundation | July 2010 | Vol. 2 - No. 1

From theexecuTive DirecTor

a d e e p e n i n g c o m m i t m e n tWhen Cooper Clinic CEO Doug Babb taught a course at UA Fort Smith, he saw his younger self in his students—and had to help.

The University of Arkansas – Fort Smith is an integral part of economic development in this region and served as an important ‘value-added’ factor in bringing the Mitsubishi wind turbine plant to Fort Smith. The Center for Business and Professional Development was able to offer the customized training

Mitsubishi will need, and the Office of International Relations was extremely valuable in communications, especially during site visits by Mitsubishi. There’s even a liaison on campus from the Japan Foundation, Yoko Kowata, who will help Japanese families acclimate to our community.

Chancellor Beran supported the project by showcasing the University, making facilities available during site visits, visiting Mitsubishi’s plant in Yokohama, and even hosting Mitsubishi executives in his home. That was one of the highlights of their visits to Fort Smith.

There were several partners in this project—the Chamber, the City of Fort Smith, Chaffee Crossing, the University, and the State—and without any one of them, we might not have gotten the plant.

SweeTeNiNg The PoTWhen Donnie Pendergraft made the gift to fund the Neal Pendergraft Endowed Professorship in Accounting in honor of her son, her goal was to help UA Fort Smith mature as a regional university. That goal was realized in April when renowned teacher-scholar Dr. Amelia Baldwin accepted the position, citing the endowed professorship as a key factor in her choice to come here.

Top professors like Dr. Baldwin are aggressively recruited, especially in high-demand areas like business, health sciences, and information technology, so our ability to “sweeten the pot” can make a very real difference in whether they decide to teach at UA Fort Smith or somewhere else.

Endowed professorships and chairs not only carry a great deal of prestige, but also provide stipends to effectively increase compensation and offer additional funds that can be used for research activities, conference attendance, equipment, student opportunities, and more.

Recruiting exceptional faculty is critical to the University’s mission. While gifts that fund scholarships may help students in a more direct and quantifiable way, faculty support has a profound and lasting effect on the overall stature of the institution.

That’s not to say that great professors don’t immediately impact the students they teach. They certainly do. But over time, high-caliber teacher-scholars like Dr. Baldwin enhance the quality of instruction across the whole University by mentoring other faculty members, launching innovative new programs, furthering research, attracting grant money, and helping recruit stronger students. You can think of it as a sort of “upward spiral.”

Remember also that these highly educated and motivated people become valued members not just of the University community, but also of the greater Fort Smith community—as citizens, neighbors, parents, consumers, voters, and volunteers.

Our University currently benefits from five endowed chairs and professorships in business, music, and nursing. Our goal, though, is to eventually have at least one such position in every department. We have faith that our community donors and alumni will see how profoundly they can impact our University by helping us recruit more great professors like Dr. Baldwin.

Please feel free to contact me at (479) 788-7020 or foundation@uafortsmith.edu to learn more about the ways you can give to support faculty development at UA Fort Smith.

Best regards,

Marta M. Loyd, Ed.D.Executive Director, UA Fort Smith FoundationVice Chancellor for University Advancement

—Cheryl Garner, Vice President for Economic Development for the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce.

economic development

Chancellor Paul B. Beran, Ph.D.—flanked by, left to right, Congressman John Boozman, Senator Mark Pryor, Senator Blanche Lincoln, Governor Mike Beebe, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Executive Vice President Ichiro Fukue, and Fort Smith Regional Chamber Chair/Baldor Electric CEO John McFarland—spoke at the Fort Smith Convention Center April 6 during the Mitsubishi Community Celebration.

At the first meeting of the senior-level leadership course he taught at UA Fort Smith last spring, Doug Babb asked for all the students who were in the first generation of their families to attend college to raise their hands. Most of them did. So did Babb, who in his “day job” serves as CEO of Cooper Clinic. Then he asked those who were working full-time to pay for school with little or no financial support from their families to raise their hands. Again, lots of hands. And again,

Babb’s own. Ultimately, Babb, who had never before

taught a college class, and his students, who had likely never before met a top-level

executive, discovered they shared remarkably similar experiences.

“We just got off on really good footing,” says Babb, who was himself a first-generation student

and who worked his way through a local university and later through law school.

As the semester continued, Babb learned that many of his students weren’t just balancing work and family

with school—they were struggling to make ends meet. Some of them couldn’t afford textbooks. Others—even

juniors and seniors with solid grades—were worried their finances would run out before graduation.

“To me,” says Babb, “it was just a compelling need.” In response, he and his wife, Kathy, decided to make a generous

endowment gift that will help business students with financial need pay tuition, buy books, and participate in academic

activities—conferences, for example—they might not otherwise be able to afford.

“We don’t want to see anybody drop out because they couldn’t afford a textbook and got a bad grade,” Babb says, “or quit within a semester or two of making it because they didn’t have somebody to push them over the finish line.” It was Kathy who inspired Doug’s growing involvement with education. A tireless supporter of public schools, she is a past Chair of the board of the Fort Smith Public Schools Foundation and has been PTA President at several schools. With Kathy’s involvement in public schools, though, Babb says he “felt his commitment needed to be in higher education.” In addition to funding the Kathy and Doug Babb Endowed Fund with his wife, Babb—who also serves on the Dean’s Leadership Council for the College of Business and on the University’s Board of Visitors—will teach his leadership course again in the fall and for as long afterward, he says, “as they’ll have me.” While it might look like a coup for the University to count a prominent local executive among its faculty, Babb sees it differently. The teaching assignment was the unexpected result of a lunch with Dr. Steve Williams, Dean of the College of Business, and Babb says, “It’s an opportunity I always wanted, and I’m finding it to be more fun than I ever dreamed.” Behind Babb’s deepening commitment to UA Fort Smith—as advisor, donor, and teacher—is a firsthand knowledge of the transformative power of regional universities. “I’m a product of a UA Fort Smith in my hometown,” he says. “A university like this is the difference-maker in many, many people’s lives.”

“We don’t want to see

anybody…quit within a

semester or two of making

it because they didn’t have

somebody to push them

over the finish line.”

Kathy and Doug Babb’s

endowment supports

business students

with financial need,

and Doug, who serves

as Cooper Clinic’s

CEO, teaches evening

leadership courses at

UA Fort Smith.

advanceS - The Newsletter of the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Foundation | July 2010 | Vol. 2 - No. 1

FirSt oF hiS Kind Until 1998, the Foundation had never supported a baccalaureate.

Mike Fielder was a good one to start with.

ua ForT SmiTh FouNDaTioN, iNc. BoarD oF DirecTorS

KENT BLOCHBERGERI’m a huge believer in expanding access to the arts, in having first-rate arts programs at the University, but also bringing in exhibits and performances so our students and faculty and the community can be exposed to them. If I could bring world-class arts here all the time, that’s what I’d like to do. And someday maybe that’s what will happen. Exposure to the arts can change how you perceive the world and how you perceive the people around you.

JOHN McFARLANDMy personal interest as a businessman is in the College of Business. As CEO of Baldor Electric, we have an interest in the engineering programs as well as the two-year programs that have helped train many employees who have come to work here at Baldor. At a personal level, my support has been for scholarships. Baldor has supported a few scholarships, but primarily supported the University with equipment, making sure that the Baldor Technology Center, in particular, is equipped with modern, up-to-date equipment.

CARL D. CORLEYThere’s a tremendous shortage in this area of qualified diesel mechanics, and I’ve given money to support expanding the automotive technology programs to cover diesel engines. Trucking companies like Arkansas Best and USA Truck, the gas drilling industry in the Arkoma Basin, and the construction industry—companies like Riggs and Forsgren—all use large diesel engines. A program at UA Fort Smith would be a huge benefit for industry in the area and a great opportunity for people in this region to have access to the training.

Bill Hanna, ChairRobert E. Miller, Vice ChairJohn R. Taylor, TreasurerJanice H. Powell, Secretary Cindy BagbyJimmy G. BellRick BeauchampKent BlochbergerRobert Y. Cohen IICarl D. CorleyHank FarrellDon FlandersJoAnn GedoshPeggy HadleyH. Lawson HembreeAnnette Landrum, M.D.Marianne Lane-ThompsonJohn McFarlandRoger S. Meek, Jr.Neal R. PendergraftMark RumseySam M. SicardDouglas O. Smith, Jr.Steven SpradlinSusan M. TaylorJames D. Walcott, Jr.William S. WalkerBennie B. WestphalRandy W. WewersChris WhittStanhope WilkinsonJane Warner WilliamsJim WilliamsonJohn T. WomackRobert A. Young III

At the time, it might have seemed like a strange decision—for the Westark College Foundation to award a scholarship to a student earning a degree from a different institution. In retrospect, though, that decision appears almost prescient. The student was Mike Fielder, who in the fall of 1998

was starting an Arkansas Tech bachelor’s program offered through

Westark’s University Center. The scholarship, funded by E.H. Patterson,

helped Fielder afford the two years it took him to finish his bachelor’s degree

after doing lower-division work at Westark. Never before had the Foundation awarded

a scholarship to an upper-division student; the E.H. Patterson Scholarship was the first of its kind.

What it accomplished, in effect, was to make it easy for a bright, driven young man to decide to stay right here and earn a

bachelor’s degree instead of transferring elsewhere. In the end, not only Fielder, but also UA Fort Smith and the community are better for Patterson’s foresight. And now the University accomplishes the same thing year-in and year-out—making it easy for promising students to pursue four-year degrees without moving on to Fayetteville or Russellville or Conway or farther. After earning his degree in computer information science in 2000, Fielder put it immediately to work as a technology specialist

for the Fort Smith Public School District, testing and implementing classroom technology. Then, three years later, he returned to UA Fort Smith as a full-time computer analyst. It wasn’t long, though, before curiosity got the better of him. With a passion for the outdoors and wildlife, he began using his tuition discount to take a few biology courses, which soon turned into a full-time course load. “I just really like education,” Fielder says. “I like learning new stuff. I’m weird that way.” This time, he paid his own way by continuing to work part-time for the University. An avid birder, Fielder cooperated with Professor Ragupathy Kannan on a pair of research projects funded in part by grants from the Arkansas Audubon Society and a National Science Foundation offshoot. The two studied the status of rusty blackbirds in western Arkansas and how invasive Eurasian collared doves compete with native mourning doves. This June, though, Fielder accepted a full-time position with the Fort Smith Public School District, teaching teachers, so to speak, how to make the most of the new generation of classroom technology. While he continues his studies part-time, he’s using that first degree—in computer information science—to improve the learning outcomes of the community’s public schools. And without the E.H. Patterson Scholarship, he might well not have that degree. “It made a huge difference in my life,” he says. “At the time, my father was an accountant and the company he worked for had gone out of business. I was able to continue my education because the folks in the Foundation were able to help me out. When I was 19 years old, if it wasn’t for a place like UA Fort Smith, I wouldn’t have made it.”

In June, Mike Fielder—an avid

birder as well as an information

systems whiz—accepted a

position with the Fort Smith Public

School District training teachers

to maximize the new generation of

classroom technology.

A Well-deserved HonorSherron Shuffield—faculty member emeritus, ardent supporter, energetic volunteer, and perpetual learner—was inducted in February as an honorary member of the UA Fort Smith chapter of the international English honor society, Sigma Tau Delta. Shuffield has given widely to the University in support of music, the arts, and particularly the English department, where she taught from 1978 until her retirement in 1998 and then again as an adjunct faculty member in 2002 and

2003. She also serves on the advisory board of the Chancellor’s Coalition for the Visual Arts, was a member

of the Lion Committee, participates in the Mollie Wilson Women’s Financial Series, and shows up at seemingly every lecture,

exhibit, and performance we put on.

Sherron Shuffield–honora

ry ΣΤ∆ member

$50 Million

$34,015,296

G: Total Goals and Priorities

P: Total Progress of May 10, 2010

P: $213,318G: $6 MillionTECHNOLOGY

P: $10.5 MillionG: $0OTHER*

P: $2.8 MillionG: $2 MillionANNUAL SUPPORT

Progress: $5.2 MillionGoal: $7 MillionFACULTY LEADERS

P: $25,510G: $5 MillionLEARNING & RESEARCH CENTER

P: $15.1 MillionG: $30 MillionENDOWED SCHOLARSHIPS

In early May, UA Fort Smith’s Giving Opportunity Campaign passed the $34 million mark on the way to its $50 million goal, which we hope to reach by the end of 2011. In the home stretch, campaign leaders are focusing on support for faculty leaders and innovators as well as funding for cutting-edge learning technology and a new university learning and research center. Plans for the center, which will more than double the square-footage of the Boreham Library, are currently on the table.

$34 Million: CAMpAign rolls on

For each issue of Advances, we ask several Foundation Board Members a different question. This time it was, “What aspect of the University do you personally consider it most important to support?”

*Gifts to areas other than designated campaign priorities. Includes gifts to unendowed scholarships, cultural arts, Family Enterprise Center, athletics, and the unrestricted fund.

advanceS - The Newsletter of the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Foundation | July 2010 | Vol. 2 - No. 1

university of arkansas - Fort Smith Foundation, inc. • 5210 grand avenue • Fort Smith, ar 72903 • 479-788-7020

In Memory ofJanuary 1, 2010 through may 15, 2010

dr. Keith FudgeGoddard United Methodist Women

bev gilstrapReverend and Mrs. Phillip D. Tally

lindsey loughmillerDr. and Mrs. Paul B. Beran

marta m. loyd, ed.d.Dr. and Mrs. Paul B. Beran

madeline martinez (Spanish immersion)Dr. Sandra M. Johnson

linda myersDrs. Rebecca and Todd Timmons

donnie pendergraftDr. and Mrs. Paul B. Beran Mr. and Mrs. Dickie Gilstrap

Jorgette SmithJohn M. Smith, Jr.

mary youmans udoujRichard J. Udouj

dr. ray WallaceDr. and Mrs. Greg T. Jones

In Honor of

edward e. bedwellEloise Bedwell

roland S. boreham, Jr.Fort Smith Symphony

Wyman charles cardMr. and Mrs. Dickie Gilstrap

lois F. conradDrs. Rebecca and Todd Timmons

albert coxMr. and Mrs. Earl D. Martin

ron crossGlidewell Distributing Company

Walter davidson, Jr.Phyllis Davidson

randy delaetMr. and Mrs. Dickie Gilstrap

laura beth echolsSue Hughes

verna lee brown efurdGlidewell Distributing Company

daniel leo geelsMr. and Mrs. Bobby Needham

Jerry W. gleasonGlidewell Distributing Company

reverend paul James greenMr. and Mrs. Dickie Gilstrap

carolyn greenfieldMr. and Mrs. Carl Davis

edward grossGlidewell Distributing Company

doris ann guilloryGlidewell Distributing Company

tom harmonKaren Harmon

Joe harnerMr. and Mrs. Dickie Gilstrap MAHG Architecture Drs. Rebecca and Todd Timmons

Frances headleyGlidewell Distributing Company

Wayne hicksMr. and Mrs. Dickie Gilstrap

robert hornDr. and Mrs. Paul B. Beran Randall P. Breaux and Dr. Arleene Breaux Mr. and Mrs. Dickie Gilstrap Drs. Marta and Greg Loyd MAHG Architecture Donnie Pendergraft Dr. and Mrs. Paul Rainwater Helen Seibold Drs. Rebecca and Todd Timmons UA Fort Smith Physical Plant Dr. L VanOsdol

bob houghMr. and Mrs. Anthony Caton

odell howardGlidewell Distributing Company

harper JacksonMr. and Mrs. Michael K. Gurlen Mr. and Mrs. Robert Powell Mr. and Mrs. Craig Smith

Wiley KilgoreGlidewell Distributing Company

pam nolen leonardMr. and Mrs. Bobby Needham

nell lewisMr. and Mrs. Dickie Gilstrap

daniel martinezRiver Valley Detachment #1248 Randall Swaim

auda Faye mcconnellDr. and Mrs. Paul B. Beran

Kenneth mcmastersonDr. Carolyn McKelvey Moore

christie gilstrap morganMr. and Mrs. Dickie Gilstrap Mr. and Mrs. Roger Parker Mr. and Mrs. Mike Phillips

olan nincehelserMr. and Mrs. Finley Turner

Stephen nosoffReba Nosoff

Sgt. vincent lee carson owensGlidewell Distributing Company

holly paulusDrs. Rebecca and Todd Timmons

a.c. perceful, Jr.Glidewell Distributing Company

gracie phumphreyBetty Burt

r. Wood hackenbracht, father of dr. Janet renwickDrs. Rebecca and Todd Timmons

bob SharumGlidewell Distributing Company

John maddox SmithJohn M. Smith, Jr.

mary b. SmithMr. and Mrs. Robert Powell

matthew m. SmithJohn M. Wilson

Susan SmithGlidewell Distributing Company

lucille SpeakmanMr. and Mrs. Randy Wewers

James tappMr. and Mrs. Carl Davis

claris and harold WallaceMr. and Mrs. Darrell Hill

larry WeigandDr. and Mrs. Gabriel Matney Drs. Rebecca and Todd Timmons

robbie WestphalMr. and Mrs. Elliott Clegg Bennie Westphal Betsy Westphal

lucille Wilson WildeMr. and Mrs. Joe Hoyle

b. Jack and Jane WilsonMr. and Mrs. David Wilson

Judge and mrs. J. Sam Wood, Sr.John S. Wood, Jr.