Thai Alumnus Makes Gift to Walker Hall

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Sunthorn Arunanondchai, president of C.P. Land Co. Ltd. and C.P. Plaza Co. Ltd. of Bangkok, Thailand, has pledged $50,000 to support the construction of Willard J. Walker Hall in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.

An industry project partnering room in the new building will be known as The Sunthorn Arunanondchai Room. The room is designed to help students work on consulting projects with business and industry.

“We are very pleased to have this gift for our new graduate building,” said Walton College Dean Dan L. Worrell. “The industry partnering room will play a strong role in helping students connect their scholarship with real-world practice. As an alumnus, Sunthorn has been a great supporter of the college through his service and advice on the Dean’s Executive Advisory Board. We also hope that the new building will reflect the international focus of the college.”

In April 2003, the Walton College announced plans for a new graduate education building to be constructed northeast of the business building. The building will be named for the late Willard Walker, in honor of his success in retail management with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. At the time, the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation pledged $8 million for the construction of the building. The building will showcase technology-enhanced teaching classrooms and student learning spaces, student team rooms, project rooms for industry partnering, a financial markets trading room and two research centers. The building is scheduled for completion this summer. Willard Walker Hall is being designed by Machado and Silvetti Associates Inc. of Boston and Allison Architects Inc. of Little Rock. More information and drawings are available at http://waltoncollege.uark.edu/walkerhall/

In 2005, the Walton College awarded Sunthorn the Alumni International Achievement Award for his leadership in the banking and securities industries and his service to higher education in Thailand. C.P. Land Co. Ltd. and C.P. Plaza Co. Ltd. are part of the C.P. Groups, the largest conglomerate in Thailand. Sunthorn is director of several companies in the C.P. Group and is chairman of a wide range of businesses, including manufacturing, retailing, investment holding companies, hotel and shopping mall, office and residential buildings.

Sunthorn received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Southern Arkansas University. He received an M.B.A. in 1969 from the Walton College. He did post-graduate work at the University of Hawaii and attended advanced management courses at Harvard. He began his career at Bankers Trust Co. in 1969. He joined Asia Credit Ltd. in 1975, which under his leadership, became Thailand’s largest investment bank, where he served until 1986. He was a pioneer in Thailand’s securities industry and worked on the committee to draft the first Security Exchange Act in 1970. The Securities Exchange of Thailand opened for trading in 1975, and he served on the board and as deputy chairman.

Sunthorn has been active in the academic world since 1969. He is a regular lecturer at various Thai universities. In 1993, he helped set up the College for Graduate Studies in Management, including the building which is named for him, at Khon Kaen University, where he still lectures. Over the past 30 years, he has built up several endowments at numerous universities in Thailand. He was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in Business Administration by Khon Kaen University, Thailand, in December 2006.