Tyson family donates $5 million for Don Tyson Center for Agricultural Sciences

It’s been 10 years in the making but the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture announced plans for a new $16.3 million research center made possible by a $5 million donation from the Tyson Family and Tyson Foods. The building will be named after poultry pioneer Don Tyson who ran Tyson Foods for more nearly five decades prior to his death in January 2011.

The formal announcement was made Monday (March 2) at the site where the new 60,000-square-foot building will soon be built. The site is adjacent  the Pauline Whitaker Equine Center on Garland Avenue on the UA campus in Fayetteville. The building will feature high-tech agriculture research laboratories that will advance plant and animal studies as well as the water quality and watershed sustainability, said Mark Cochran, vice president for agriculture at the UA Division of Agriculture. The new research center will better help researchers create healthier, better and more efficient ways for growing crops, raising animals, producing food and protecting the state’s natural resources, he added.

The complex will also be the new administrative home for the Division’s Agricultural Experiment Station, which has been based in Fayetteville for more than 125 years.

The rest of the funds are to come from a decade of saving by the Division of Agriculture,  according to Mark Scott, chief communications officer for the UA System Division of Agriculture.

“Having this new Agricultural Research Center named after dad (Don Tyson) is pretty special for our family. He loved the university and Arkansas agriculture,” John Tyson, chairman of Tyson Foods, told The City Wire after the event. “Dad’s involvement and commitment to agriculture in Arkansas is legendary. It’s an honor for our family and company to partner with the UA System Division of Agriculture on this project. The research and other work that will take place in this building and on the surrounding farm will be vitally important in helping secure the future of agriculture and agri-business in our state for generations to come.”

UA System President Donald Bobbitt said the gift will solidify the UA Division’s efforts for future generation and will allow for the further enhancement of agriculture in the state.  Bobbitt said the UA System Board of Trustees approved the Division of Agriculture’s request for a new facility in September. The board hired WER Architects and Nabholz Construction for design and construction.

Former U.S. Sen. David Pryor, board trustee for the UA System, was among the board members attending Monday’s announcement. Pryor spoke about giving nature of Don Tyson and the entire Tyson family toward the University over the years. He also credited Mark Simmons and others in the room who continue to work with the University Division of Agriculture in areas like poultry genetics, feed enhancements and animal welfare issues.

“Don Tyson never forgot his roots and though he could have built his company and lived anywhere in the world, he did so here, and Springdale, Northwest Arkansas and Arkansas are all better for it,”  Pryor said.

This particular gift was to the UA System, not the University of Arkansas. But you don’t have to look far on the UA campus to see the influence of the Tyson Family. The Randall Tyson Track Center was named after Don Tyson’s brother Randall, whose widow Barbara Tyson attended Monday’s press conference. Barbara Tyson is a long-time board member at Tyson Foods.

The John W. Tyson Building dedicated in 1995 as the Center of Excellence for Poultry Sciences was named after Tyson Foods founder. Then in 2011, the Tyson Family Foundation gave $2.5 million toward the Jean Tyson Child Development Study Center on the UA campus.

“The Jean Tyson Child Development Study Center was another special and fitting way for us to give back. We know how important child development is for all future generations,” John Tyson told The City Wire following announcement presentation.

Ironically, Don Tyson never completed his degree from the University of Arkansas. He was called away from his studies at UA in 1952 during his senior year to help run the company with his dad. He was eager to jump into the business with his dad who had just added a hatchery and feed mill so he could integrate the business, which has become standard practice in the industry today.