UA Misses Bell Donation on List

The University of Arkansas didn’t promise that its list of major contributions, compiled at the request of our sister publication, Arkansas Business, was comprehensive. But we immediately noticed one notable omission — a large gift from Melvyn Bell to the UA’s College of Engineering. As we recalled, it was a multimillion-dollar gift given in the mid-1980s — and the reason that large building on campus is called the Bell Engineering Center.

But, despite numerous phone calls to various administrative offices and the engineering school, we were unable to find anyone who could tell us about that gift.

That is, until we reached Neil Schmitt, who now teaches at the College of Engineering but was its dean at the time Bell made his donation. Schmitt says Bell gave the college a cash gift of more than $1 million and, through a charitable remainder trust, a stream of income that was estimated to be worth $13 million. Unfortunately, the stock held in the trust was Environmental Systems Co., which plunged in value after a series of troubles. The university was unable to convert the trust holding to another stock, and, ultimately, the total value received by the College of Engineering ended up being about $3 million, Schmitt says.

Still, at the time it was announced, the Bell donation was the largest ever received by the UA, Schmitt says. And, although the amount received was substantially less than originally expected, the donation significantly affected the college, he adds. “It allowed us to do many things” that couldn’t have otherwise been done.