Alice Walton speaks during the 2011 Walmart Shareholders Meeting in Fayetteville.
Courtesy, Walmart Stores
The University of Arkansas will give Walmart heiress Alice Walton an honorary degree during the spring commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 12, the school announced Thursday.
To recognize “her lifetime of contributions” to Arkansas, Walton will receive an honorary Doctor of Arts and Humane Letters.
Walton opened Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville to international acclaim last November. In its first two months of operation, more than 125,000 people visited the world-class museum which has since put Northwest Arkansas on a host of must-visit lists including Travel + Leisure’s Hottest Travel Destinations of 2012 and the LA Times’ 12 places to visit in 2012.
In building Crystal Bridges, Walton drew on her own private art collection and the resources of the Walton Family Foundation to create what the New York Times called “the first major institution in 50 years dedicated to the vast spectrum of American art.” Aside from earning the respect of the arts community worldwide, her cultural gift is transforming the way many people think about the region and Arkansas as a whole.
University officials, however, said Crystal Bridges is only the most recent example of her influence and impact on the people in her home state.
“There are very few individuals who have the ability to make truly transformational changes in people’s lives or in the way institutions operate; far fewer individuals act on that ability,” said UA Chancellor David Gearhart in a statement. “Alice Walton is a very special individual. We want to honor what she has done already for Northwest Arkansas, the state of Arkansas, and of course, this university.”
As the youngest child of Helen and Sam Walton, Alice grew up in Bentonville, where her father operated a local five-and-ten store before starting his own company, Wal-Mart, in 1962. Alice attended Trinity University in San Antonio, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance. She began her business career with the First Commerce Corp. and later served as head of all investment-related activities at the Arvest Bank Group. In 1988, she founded the investment bank Llama Company, serving as president, chairman and chief executive officer.
“I am humbled to be selected for this honor,” Walton said. “The University of Arkansas has been a tremendous resource for our state both in educating its citizens and developing its economy. To be a part of this academic tradition is personally meaningful.”
More from the release:
Walton helped bring Northwest Arkansas business and political leaders together in 1990 to form the Northwest Arkansas Council, and was the first chair of this community development organization. The council played a major role in creating the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, which continues to play a pivotal economic role for the area, helping to spur more than a decade of unprecedented growth. Walton helped finance the project and provided the initial seed capital to fund construction of the airport. The Alice L. Walton Terminal Building was named after her to recognize her contribution and support.
Walton has also played a guiding role in the Walton Family Foundation, one of the nation’s foremost philanthropic organizations. The foundation has made significant donations to the University of Arkansas, transforming the Sam M. Walton College of Business, creating the Honors College and endowing the Graduate School, turning each into nationally prominent and competitive institutions. She has continued to take an active interest in the university, serving on the Board of Advisors for the Graduate School of Business.
The Walton Family Foundation also helped fulfill Walton’s vision for Camp War Eagle, which since 2006 has given summer camp experiences to thousands of children from different socio-economic backgrounds, most of them attending free of charge.
More information about Alice Walton and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is available at http://www.alicewalton.org.
Suckups.
Good for Alice.
Perhaps she will bring gifts. U of A has some outstanding building projects on the boards that need funding.
Just as likely that she will decide it is time for a bigger football stadium or basketball arena, which she will happily fund — just as long as they move it to Bentonville!
dumb
If they have a kegger for her, she’ll be there.
With the world class art access she has brought to this region, and the years of study and travel to assemble the Crystal Bridges art collection, I feel she well earned this honorary Doctor of Arts and Humane Letters.
I offer congratulations.
Sad how certain other commenters (above) choose to post a negative about everything, even great art.
Welcome to the comments section of the internet. Where the sad, angry, and most importantly nameless people can complain and moan to no end, with no repercussions.
I dunno about no sad & angry, how about chagrined?
http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2011/10/13/alice-walton-arrested-in-texas-for-dui
But it certainly is a nice art collection and, as I’ve been led to understand, free to the public.
Excelsior!
I WORKED 6 HARD YEARS FOR MY BACHELORS. IF I KNEW I COULD BUY A DEGREE I WOULD HAVE. BUT I WOULD HAVE HAD TO GO TO COLLEGE TO MAKE MYSELF ATTRACTIVE ENOUGH TO EMPLOYERS TO EARN ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY A DEGREE. MAYBE I CAN TAKE OUT A STUDENT LOAN TO BUY A DEGREE. I THINK THE CAPS LOCK LETS EVERYONE KNOW THAT I AM SERIOUS AND MEAN BUSINESS. ILL PUT THESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pretty sure using all caps lets everyone know you don’t deserve that college degree.
OF COURSE I DON’T I JUST GOT HAMMERED AND SKIPPED CLASS ALL THE TIME LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!!! FREQUENTLY EXPERIMENTED WITH A WIDE ARRAY OF DRUGS AND SEXUAL MISCONDUCT. SINCE WHEN DO PEOPLE HAVE TO DESERVE THINGS TO HAVE THEM. WHAT WORLD DO YOU LIVE IN??
That probably explains the six years.
I don’t feel sorry at all for a drunken billionaire. Sorry. The good she does I praise, the bad I blast. Deal.
I feel sorry for the lady she ran over.
I think this is ONE powerful CHICK we need her and her family.. on our side..GO HOGS GO..Take the Money…and the Knowledge.. and build on it ..$$ makes the world go around..Go SAM
Hey Alice:
Whats Up, Doc?
DGold put it best.
A lot of wealthy people don’t do as much good as the Waltons.
I’ll drink to that!
Typical response, but disappointing that $$$ > life to some people. Eat the rich.
I find her bedazzled shareholders badge to the most off putting.
This was poorly worded. My thrill over a Fayetteville based LSU game is affecting me.
HATERS GONNA HATE.
ALICE GONNA CROSS THE CENTER LINE.
In a swerving fashion, I mean.
Honorary degree from the University of Arkansas?
Shouldn’t she first complete drunk drivers school?
Dgold
Alice and the Waltons are about as American as chop sticks and steam fried rice.
This family has encouraged good manufacturing jobs to offshore.
When this family enjoys more wealth than the bottom 30% of American people it is time to say “Houston we have a problem”.
how many lawyers and judges get stopped while driving drunk and get away with it time after time. Alice for all her money doesn’t get away with it. seems strange.
I don’t have a personal vendetta against the Walmart empire, the Waltons or Alice Walton, but I think it’s gross that the University is honoring her with a degree. In a town with 21,000 students, many of whom drink and drive, this is the absolute wrong message to send. She has chosen to get behind the wheel *at least* three times while intoxicated, leading to one woman’s death. One would think that killing a person because of your drinking would deter one from drinking and driving again. Instead of hiring a driver, which I imagine she can afford, she has chosen to get behind the wheel while intoxicated twice more. This is repugnant. Anyone who has ever lost a loved one to a drunk driver can understand the moral turpitude of a person who has options and chooses not to use them.
I hate to be fair, but my recollection is that there were no charges, DUI or otherwise, filed against after her the fatal accident.
Of course no one can earn billions of dollars. Only an idiot or an economist believes otherwise. Almost all that value was created by working men and women and not by anyone named Walton. A pity the people who created it didn’t get to decide what was done with it. They might have preferred to spend it on better public schools or more time with family, but as vanity projects by the rich and famous go, museums and libraries are pleasant and inoffensive.
You’re correct. There were no charges filed against Ms. Walton when she struck and killed Oleta Hardin. She had been speeding, and was ticketed twice previously for speeding on that same road, but she was not charged with anything. I am certain that the family wealth and influence had nothing to do with this at all.
Thanks John A A: just made my day, which ain’t easy at this point.
She does not deserve anything but an honorary degree from the University of Beijing China.
The Waltons have done more for China and only harm to America.
This is their true legacy that an’”American Art Museum’ will not camouflage.