FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - UA alumnus James L. (Jim) Harris of Rogers has been appointed associate director of planned giving at the University of Arkansas. Harris joins Hugh R. Kincaid, director of planning giving, who is also an UA graduate and has managed the University’s planned giving program since 1993.

Harris’s responsibilities include assisting donors and their advisers in creating planned gifts to support UA academic and academic support programs. Prior to joining the UA on a full time basis, he served as counsel to the UA office of planned giving.

Harris said, "This is extremely rewarding and fulfilling work for me, especially as a graduate of the University. I am very interested in helping our alumni and friends make a permanent impact on the lives of the University’s students and faculty."

Harris is a 1985 high honors graduate of the Sam M. Walton College of Business Administration with a B.S.B.A in accounting. He received his law degree with high honors from the University in 1988. He also has a LL.M. in taxation from the University of Florida.

Harris comes to the University from the law firm of Hall, Estill, Hardwick, Gable, Golden and Nelson of Fayetteville where he was a partner from 1997 until August 1, 2000. While working at the firm, which also has offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and Washington, D.C., he specialized in tax law, estate planning, retirement plan law, employee benefits and representation of charitable entities. Prior to 1997, he was a partner in the Rose Law Firm of Little Rock where he also worked in tax law and estate planning.

Kincaid said, "We are very pleased to have someone of Jim’s caliber to assist us in the office of planned giving. His expertise in estate and tax planning will benefit our donors and our efforts to raise money for University academic programs."

Harris is a member of Beta Alpha Psi, a recipient of the Craig Sterne Award for Outstanding Achievement in Taxation and Estate Planning, a James J. Freeland Tax Scholar, and a past member of the editorial board of the Arkansas Law Review. He received his certified public accountant designation in 1985. He is a member of the Arkansas Bar Association (Taxation Section) and the American Bar Association; the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; and the Arkansas State Society of Certified Public Accountants (Federal and State Taxation Committee). He also serves on the Executive Committee of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas.

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