Jonesboro Couple Make Gift to Build University Chancellor's Residence

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — B. Alan Sugg, president of the University of Arkansas System, announced today that Wallace and Jama Fowler of Jonesboro have made a $1.75 million gift commitment toward the construction of a university chancellor’s residence on the University of Arkansas campus.

“The Wallace and Jama Fowler House represents an idea whose time has come. With the resources from the Fowlers, this signature facility will be a reality sooner rather than later,” said President Sugg. “The Fowler House will be the front door to the university, and serve as a gathering place for students, faculty, alumni and University officials.  It will be a warm, welcoming place and represent a prestigious invitation for university constituents to come together for the welfare and benefit of the university.

“When Chancellor White came to the university eight years ago, I told him we needed to raise the funds to build a chancellor’s residence.  Now, as the phenomenally successful Campaign for the Twenty-First Century reaches its final stages, it is most appropriate to move this project to the forefront. The Fowlers’ generosity has enabled us to do so.  Many years ago a president’s house (the campus CEO was the president at that time) stood close to McIlroy House on Ozark Avenue. Later the president’s home was on Mount Sequoyah. A temporary solution was to purchase a house near the university that has never really been adequate for use by university guests. 

“A new chancellor’s residence is very important to the university and will create a most prestigious gathering place for university constituents and serve as a statement of quality about the type of university we have become. We are a major force in higher education, not only in Arkansas but the entire nation.  We need to look like a major institution in every way.  A new chancellor’s residence will be an important step in solidifying our stature and allowing us to entertain large numbers of alumni and friends,” Sugg said.

UA Chancellor John A. White said: “We wish to thank the Fowlers for this incredibly generous gift.  They have been most generous benefactors for many years. Their latest gift will have a tremendous impact on the entire university. As a member of the Campaign Steering Committee, Wallace has been most supportive of our efforts. He and Jama have been extremely generous to so many, many programs across Arkansas. We cannot begin to thank them adequately for this wonderful gift to the university.”

“This is an extraordinary gift that supports a need we have at the University of Arkansas, and we are grateful to the Fowlers for their generosity,” said G. David Gearhart, vice chancellor for University Advancement. “To effectively greet and entertain the university’s most important visitors and guests — donors, state and federal legislators, foreign dignitaries, corporate executives, students and the public — the university needs such a facility. All of our Southeastern Conference peers have official residences that can accommodate large gatherings, as do most major national universities.  Many other Arkansas institutions also have presidents’ or chancellors’ residences.   They serve as focal points for activities promoting and representing the university. The new residence should be formal, comfortably functional and appropriate for official events that will lend to the growing stature of the university.  I have enjoyed the opportunity to become a good friend of the Fowlers through the Campaign and they are among the most generous people I have ever known.  They are just good people.”

Wallace Fowler attended the University of Arkansas and is chairman and chief executive officer of Liberty Bank of Arkansas as well as chairman of Fowler Foods Inc. He is a member of the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century Steering Committee and a member of the Leadership and Principal Gifts Committee.  Examples of the Fowlers’ wide-ranging giving to civic and social causes throughout Arkansas include the Fowler Center, a multipurpose community center at Arkansas State University, and their support of the Arkansas State University Museum. They are members of the University of Arkansas Chancellor’s Society.

Mr. Fowler has been a member of the chairman’s council of the 2004 Southern Legislative Conference, the Board of Directors of the Arkansas State University Foundation Inc., the Northeast Arkansas Industrial Development Commission, the Governor’s Citizens Council on Highways and Transportation, and the Greater Jonesboro Chamber of Commerce, among his many affiliations. ASU named Mr. Fowler the Business Executive of the Year in 2003.  He was honored with the Outstanding Volunteer Service Award at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism in 2002.

The Fowlers have three children, Wallace Fowler Jr., Chris Fowler and Mark Fowler.

Planning for the new facility will begin this summer with construction likely to begin in the fall. The disposition of the current chancellor’s residence will be determined at a later date.

The Fowlers’ gift counts toward the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century, which had recorded $1.021 billion in gifts and pledges against the $1 billion goal as of June 28, 2005. The Campaign for the Twenty-First Century ends June 30, 2005. Counting of gifts will continue until all gifts made by the June 30 deadline are recorded and matches have been determined. A final total will be announced when that process is complete.