Gilchrist And Mclarty To Receive Honorary Degrees And Speak At University Of Arkansas Commencement On May 13

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Renowned writer Ellen L. Gilchrist and former Clinton administration chief of staff Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty III will share the honor of sending the University of Arkansas Class of 2000 into the world at this year's All-University Commencement at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 13, at Bud Walton Arena.

Both will receive honorary degrees from the University.

Gilchrist, among the nation's foremost writers of the literary generation that has succeeded Styron, Welty and O’Connor, will receive an honorary Doctor of Arts and Humane Letters degree.

Gilchrist received a B.A. in philosophy from Millsaps College in 1967. Her writing career began when she won a poetry award at the University of Arkansas in 1976 and the Craft in Poetry award from the New York Quarterly in 1978. Her first book, The Land Surveyor’s Daughter, was published in 1979 by Lost Roads press. With the publication of In the Land of Dreamy Dreams, published by the University of Arkansas Press in 1981, her career was fully launched. She currently has one volume of poetry and 18 fiction titles to her name. Her most recent novel, The Cabal and Other Stories, was released this spring by Little, Brown and Company.

Gilchrist has read her work widely, most notably at the University of Arkansas, the Arkansas Governor’s School, the University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale, and the University of Nebraska. In 1984 she began broadcasting commentaries on Morning Edition on National Public Radio. She is the recipient of a number of awards including the prestigious American Book Award for Victory Over Japan (1984) and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.

McLarty, who graduated summa cum laude from the University of Arkansas in 1969 with a B.S. in business administration, will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

McLarty, a native of Hope, Ark., is currently chairman and CEO of McLarty Companies Inc. of Little Rock, Ark., and vice chairman of Hissinger McLarty Associates, which provides strategic advisory and advocacy services to U.S. and multinational businesses. McLarty's road to success began when he founded McLarty Leasing System Inc. of Little Rock in 1969. At the age of 23 he was elected to serve as a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1970 to 1972. He was president/CEO and COO of Arkansas-Louisiana Gas Inc. (Arkla) Gas Division in 1983 and 1984, respectively, and also the chairman of the board/president/CEO of Arkla Inc. in 1984. Between 1993 and 1998, he served as the White House chief of staff, senior advisor to President Clinton, counselor to the president, special envoy for the Americas and as a member of the National Economic Council. McLarty serves as a board member to numerous other companies including Asbury Automotive Group, Acxiom Corporation, Entergy Corporation, Financial Times and the Federal Reserve Board.

McLarty is a frequent public speaker, and he has published numerous articles on U.S. trade and foreign policy. He is the recipient of the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Medal; and the highest civilian honors of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela; the Olympic Shield Award; and the Center for the Study of the Presidency Distinguished Service Award.

Individual UA colleges and schools will conduct commencement ceremonies throughout the day on May 13 with the exception of the School of Law, which will conduct its ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 20, at the Walton Arts Center on Dickson Street. The times, locations and speakers of the individual ceremonies are as follows:

SAM M. WALTON COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Donald G. Soderquist will speak at the Sam M. Walton College of Business Administration commencement at 1:30 p.m. at Barnhill Arena. In 1980, Soderquist joined Wal-Mart Stores Inc. as executive vice president and served in several other executive positions until his appointment in early 1988 to vice chairman and chief operating officer. In January 1999 he was promoted to senior vice chairman of the corporation. Prior to his joining Wal-Mart, he served 16 years with Ben Franklin, including six years as president and chief executive officer.

He received his bachelor of arts in business administration in 1955 from Wheaton College, Wheaton, Ill. In May 1989, Soderquist was awarded an honorary degree from the Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., and in May 1993, he was awarded an honorary degree from John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Ark. In 1990 he received the Outstanding Business Leader Award from the Northwood Institute in Palm Beach, Florida. In 1996 Soderquist was inducted into the Retailing Hall of Fame.

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HEALTH PROFESSIONS

Karen Jennings will speak at the College of Education and Health Professions commencement at 4 p.m. at Barnhill Arena. Jennings is a 1972 graduate of the U of A and is currently the senior executive vice president of human resources for Southwestern Bell. After joining Southwestern Bell, she advanced in the growing telecommunications company and in recent years has become one of the company's top managers. From 1995 to 1996, Jennings was chair of the SBC Foundation, SBC Asset Management Inc. and the associate vice president for SBC Communications. In 1996 she was appointed president of Southwestern Bell in Missouri, and the following year she became vice president and general manager for SBC Telecommunications Inc. In 1998, Jennings was named senior vice president of human resources and was subsequently promoted to her current position.

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Gus M. Vratsinas, chairman and chief executive officer of Vratsinas Construction Company in Little Rock, Ark., is the speaker for the College of Engineering commencement at 4:30 p.m. in Bud Walton Arena.

He received a bachelor of science in civil engineering in 1966 and a master of science in civil engineering in 1968 from the University of Arkansas.

Vratsinas began his career in the construction industry in 1968 with Pickens Bond Construction Company in Little Rock. During his 16-year tenure with the company he held the positions of project engineer, project manager, vice-president and executive vice-president.

He and two partners established Vratsinas Construction (VCC) in 1987. VCC is a commercial contractor that offers a full range of construction services nationwide and has remodeled and built new facilities for the retail, regional mall, health care, distribution, office and education industries. The employee-owned company ranks 211 in the 1999 poll of the

top 400 contractors in the United States and is ranked eighth in the top 25 in retail. Arkansas Business has selected VCC as Arkansas Business of the Year.

J. WILLIAM FULBRIGHT COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

J. Brady Anderson is slated to speak at the Fulbright College commencement at 1:30 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena.

Anderson was sworn in as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in 1999. He also serves as the chairman of the board of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

As the USAID administrator, Anderson directs a $7 billion program of economic and humanitarian assistance to more than 100 countries in the developing world, Central and Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union.

Anderson previously served in the Clinton administration as ambassador to Tanzania from 1994 to 1997. Before his ambassadorial appointment, Anderson and his wife, Betty Wray Anderson, spent five years working and living in the villages of East Africa as sociolinguistic surveyors with the Wycliffe Bible Translators. Their work contributed to Bible translation and literacy programs in eight languages.

From 1977 to 1981, Anderson served as an assistant to the Arkansas Attorney General and later Governor Bill Clinton.

DALE BUMPERS COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL, FOOD AND LIFE SCIENCES

Stanley E. Reed, a UA alumnus and member of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees, will speak at the Bumpers College commencement at 1:30 p.m. at the Randall Tyson Track Center on 15th Street.

Reed operates a farm that produces cotton, wheat, soybeans, rice and corn in Lee and St. Francis counties.

He received his bachelor of science in agriculture with highest honors in agricultural engineering. He went on to earn a juris doctorate with highest honors. As a student he was president of the Inter-fraternity Council, Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and the Cardinal XX Honor Society. He had the highest grade on the Arkansas bar exam in 1976, but he no longer practices law. Mr. Reed provides or has provided leadership at the local, state and national levels for the Farm Bureau, Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board, Cotton Incorporated, Council on Economic Education, Arkansas Alumni Association, Prison Chapel Fund, Rotary International, and many other community organizations.

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

Dr. Sharon E. Sutton, FAIA, a professor of architecture and director of CEEDS (Center for Environment, Education, and Design Studies) at the University of Washington, will speak at the UA school of architecture commencement at 2 p.m. on the front lawn of Old Main. She has been an architecture educator since 1975, having held positions at the Pratt Institute, Columbia University, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Michigan, where she became the first African American woman in the United States to be promoted to full professor in an accredited professional degree program in architecture. During 1997-1998, Dr. Sutton served as president of the National Architectural Accrediting Board. Dr. Sutton’s research focuses on youth, culture, and the environment. Her most recent book, Weaving a Tapestry of Resistance, is based on data collected during a three-year evaluation of the Urban Network, a K-12 urban design program that she founded while at the University of Michigan.

SCHOOL OF LAW

The University of Arkansas School of Law commencement will take place at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 20, at the Walton Arts Center. Congressman Asa Hutchinson, who received his law degree from the U of A, will be the school’s commencement speaker. Hutchinson represents the Third District of Arkansas in Congress and serves on three committees Judiciary (Constitution Subcommittee and Crime Subcommittee), Transportation and Infrastructure (Aviation Subcommittee and Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee), and Government Reform (Criminal Justice Subcommittee). From 1982 to 1985, Hutchinson served as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, Hutchinson was, at age 31, the youngest federal prosecutor in the country at the time.

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