Sam M. Walton College of Business

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.

Sam M. Walton College of Business
TypePublic
Established1926
Parent institution
University of Arkansas
DeanMatthew A. Waller
Students6,132 (2016)[1]
Undergraduates5,675 (2016)[1]
Postgraduates457 (2016)[1]
Location
Fayetteville
,
Arkansas
,
U.S.

36°03′55″N 94°10′28″W
AffiliationsUniversity of Arkansas
Websitewalton.uark.edu

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
See also: History of the University of Arkansas

The School of Business Administration was established within the University of Arkansas in 1926.[3]

Eponym
Sam Walton in 1936

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)
Dean Matt Waller in 2018

Interim Dean Thomas McKinnon (1992–1993)

Departments
Two Walton College buildings, with the Ozark Mountains in the background
  • 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
University rankings
National
ARWU[5] NR
Forbes[6] 283
THE/WSJ[7] 444
U.S. News & World Report[8] 135 (tie)
Washington Monthly[9] 208
Global
ARWU[10] 501 (tie)
QS[11] 801 (tie)
THE[12] 501 (tie)
U.S. News & World Report[13] 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.[14] 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.[15] 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,[16] 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

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.[17]

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

See also
  • Varun Grover, Walton professor and chair of the Department of Information Systems, noted for his information systems research

References
  1. "Fall 2016 11th Day Enrollment Report" (PDF). University of Arkansas Office of Institutional Research. October 20, 2016. p. 3. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  2. Walton College reporting U.S. News and Report college survey results.
  3. "University of Arkansas Walton College History". Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  4. 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.
  5. "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2020: National/Regional Rank". Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  6. "America's Top Colleges 2019". Forbes. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  7. "Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings 2021". Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  8. "2021 Best National University Rankings". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  9. "2020 National University Rankings". Washington Monthly. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  10. "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2020". Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  11. "QS World University Rankings® 2021". Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  12. "World University Rankings 2021". THE Education Ltd. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  13. "2021 Best Global Universities Rankings". U.S. News & World Report LP. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  14. "Rankings | About | Walton College | University of Arkansas". walton.uark.edu. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  15. "Walton College Tied for No. 1 in World in Information Systems Research Productivity". University of Arkansas News. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  16. "Business Week Ranks Walton College Marketing and Corporate Strategy in Top 20". University of Arkansas News. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  17. Neiswanger, Robbie (October 23, 2016). "UA's McMillon lab fosters innovation". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  18. "Justin Boyd". arkansashouse.org. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  19. "Bart Hester's Biography". votesmart.org. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  20. "Doug McMillon". Retrieved 2016-07-22.
  21. "Marshall Wright". ballotpedia. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  22. "Epic Spotlight: Johnny Carver". Uark.edu. Archived from the original on 2017-10-26. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
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