Wal-Mart CEO, Wife Donate $1 Million To UA Walton College

Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon and his wife, Shelley, are donating $1 million to the University of Arkansas Walton College of Business.

The gift will establish the McMillon Family Endowed Excellence Fund, which is expected to serve as the catalyst for a proposed School of Global Retail Operations and Innovation. The school will work with undergraduate and graduate students in retail learning and research.

The proposed school, which would be housed within the Walton College, will require additional fundraising resources and be subject to University of Arkansas Board of Trustees approval.

“This gift will be the catalyst to help us eventually establish the proposed School of Global Retail Operations and Innovation. The school has the potential to offer interdisciplinary programs in retail, generate international prominence and establish ourselves as the premier location for consumer research and retail education,” said Chancellor G. David Gearhart.

The university said the McMillon Family Endowed Excellence Fund will increase opportunities for advanced retail studies by providing support for initiatives promoting consumer sciences and consumer behavior-related research. It will also provide summer support for faculty members, doctoral student stipends and retail research stipends for a graduate-level retail curriculum and faculty travel to key conferences.

“It’s an honor and a joy to help launch the School of Global Retail Operations and Innovation at Walton College,” said Doug McMillon, a 1989 Walton College graduate. “The University of Arkansas has given us so much, and Shelley and I appreciate the chance to give back.”

“This is a time of great change in the retail industry,” he said. “We need to invest in a new generation of innovative leaders, and Walton College can play a unique role as a destination for cutting-edge retail education. We hope this fund will increase opportunities for students and faculty members, strengthen the college and lay the foundation for many promising careers around the world. Northwest Arkansas has revolutionized retail before, and the students of the U of A can do it again.”