Walker Foundation Gives $8 Million For UA Building

The Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation will provide $8 million to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville toward construction of the $16 million Willard J. Walker Graduate Business Building. The remaining $8 million will come from private sources and university funds.

The new building, part of the Sam M. Walton College of Business, will be located east of the current business building and north of the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development. The location is now a parking lot. The building will be between 60,000 and 70,000 SF in size.

“I would like to think by this time next year, we would be selecting the builder,” said David Hyatt, UA assistant dean of business administration.

Hyatt said the new building would likely be two stories tall, but no plans have been drafted yet.

Willard Walker was the first manager of Sam Walton’s Five and Dime on the downtown Fayetteville square. He retired from Wal-Mart in 1972.