NORTHWEST ARKANSAS JUDGE ENDOWS TWO UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS LAW PROFESSORSHIPS

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — One of Northwest Arkansas’ most respected judges and corporate lawyers has made a substantial gift to endow two professorships for the University of Arkansas School of Law. Judge William H. Enfield’s gift establishes the William H. Enfield Endowed Professorship and the Clayton N. Little Endowed Professorship.

Judge Enfield, a resident of Bentonville, Ark., is a 1948 graduate of the University’s School of Law and was at one time a professor at the school.

Clayton N. Little, a 1937 graduate of the University’s School of Law, was also a distinguished attorney and long-time law partner of Judge Enfield. Little died in 1994 after a lengthy career in politics and law.

"The law profession has been good to me and my dear friend, Clayton Little," said Judge Enfield. "Remembering my experiences as a professor, I wanted to find a way to help bring more quality legal talent to the University to teach future generations of lawyers."

Chancellor John A. White said, "We are grateful to Judge Enfield for this gift to the School of Law. It directly supports our goal of attracting and retaining outstanding faculty at the University. With the kind of teaching and scholarly excellence this generous gift makes possible, the school can continue to produce top quality attorneys for Arkansas and the nation."

School of Law Dean Robert B. Moberly said, "This gift provides resources to help us enhance our program of legal education. It also advances the Chancellor’s vision for the University and his goals of national prominence. We plan to fill these professorships with superb legal scholars and teachers as quickly as possible." Moberly joined the School of Law as dean July 1, succeeding Leonard Strickman in that post.

Judge Enfield completed his law degree after serving with the Marines in the Pacific in World War II. He was married to Miriam Rosen, daughter of former University professor Dr. Harry Rosen. The Enfields had two children, Bill Enfield Jr. of Bentonville and Letitia Letson of Tulsa, Okla. Mrs. Enfield died in 1996.

His first assignment as professor at the School of Law was to teach Silas Hunt, the school’s first African American student. Hunt, a brilliant student who entered in 1948, died halfway through his second year of law school of a war-related disease, but not before he opened the doors for other African American students. Enfield continued to teach on a part-time basis for five years.

He became interested in politics and was appointed to the position of Benton County Judge in 1951 where he served for 13 months before returning to the law practice he had established in 1949.

Judge Enfield not only had a distinguished law career, but also worked alongside the movers and shakers who, over the past 40 years, helped to shape Northwest Arkansas. He and his partners were at the right place at the right time and will be remembered for working with many key businesses in their infancy stage. He organized the first corporations for Wal-Mart, Peterson Industries and most of the rural telephone companies of Northwest Arkansas. He worked for Cooper Communities and Bella Vista Village. He did not limit himself to corporate law; he also tried criminal cases.

After practicing law in Benton County for 20 years, he sat on the bench as Circuit Judge for 20 years. Commenting on his tenure as a judge, he said, " I always felt, because of my upbringing, that being a judge was the most prestigious thing you could do in the legal profession."

Judge Enfield lives in a house designed by architect Fay Jones. In addition to giving this endowment to the School of Law, the Enfields have supported many other social and community services and donated funds to build the University’s Plant Sciences Building in Dr. Harry Rosen’s honor.

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