Remembering Don Tyson, Long-Time Friend of the University

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Don Tyson, a long-time benefactor and supporter of the University of Arkansas, received an honorary degree from the university in May 2010. Tyson died Thursday at his home.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Don Tyson of Springdale, legendary business visionary and long-time supporter of the University of Arkansas, died at his home on Thursday, Jan. 6, following a brief illness.

“I received the news of Don’s passing with great sorrow,” said Chancellor G. David Gearhart. “This is an immense loss. To all who knew him, he was a larger-than-life figure—a business pioneer, a great philanthropist, and a dear friend. A self-made man, he wasn’t just a great Arkansas success story, he was a great American success story. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. His vast and big-hearted presence will be sorely missed.”

Don Tyson attended the University of Arkansas and during university commencement ceremonies on May 8, 2010, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. This profile of his career appeared in the commencement program:

Don Tyson got his first hands-on experience in the poultry industry at a young age, working for his father’s business, Tyson’s Feed and Hatchery, in Springdale. By the age of 14 he was running a chicken catching crew and he later drove a truck for the company.

He attended the University of Arkansas, and was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity, but in 1952 he left his studies to help his father compete with the other 19 poultry companies that had sprung up in Springdale. He became head of operations for the business when he was 22 and over the next 14 years he pushed to achieve complete vertical integration of the company, from egg to processed chicken to distribution. Tyson was plant manager for the company’s first processing plant in Springdale. He and his father pursued an aggressive acquisition policy to keep the business growing and took the company public in 1963. Tyson was named company president in 1966. He was a strong proponent of the marketing strategy he described as “segment, concentrate and dominate,” and was among the first in the poultry industry to recognize the importance of “branding.” He wanted his customers to know they weren’t just buying chicken: they were buying “Tyson’s Country Fresh Chicken.”

Tyson became chief executive officer and chairman of the board in 1967. He continued making new acquisitions, diversifying the business by adding beef and pork to the company’s products, building this Springdale business into an international force. Under his leadership Tyson Foods has become a Fortune 100 company and the world’s largest meat producer. Tyson’s business success earned him international recognition, but he always remained true to his Arkansas origins. He was known for combining a down-to-earth approach with a true sense of exuberance, and he shared his success with the same enthusiasm that he lived his life. He was a regular contributor to a wide range of nonprofit agencies in Springdale, northwest Arkansas and the state. He encouraged his company’s partnerships with Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest) and Share Our Strength, resulting in donations of more than 70 million pounds of chicken, beef and pork to food banks and pantries across the country. In addition to his donations to the University of Arkansas he served on the steering committee for the university’s Campaign for the Twenty-First Century and as the campaign was winding down, a $12.5 million gift from the Tyson Foods Foundation pushed the total amount raised in the campaign past its $1 billion goal.

Lalit Verma, then-interim dean of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, said these gifts are as distinctive as the style of the man who gave them.

“I have discovered that Don Tyson is a humble benefactor who does not seek recognition,” said Verma. “He seeks simply to enrich and enhance the lives of others.”

Don Tyson was inducted into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame in 2000. A short video of his career can be seen at http://waltoncollege.uark.edu/abhf/1350.asp.

Although Don Tyson never sought recognition for his generosity, the Tyson name is prominent in the list of benefactors to the University of Arkansas. In the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century alone, the personal, corporate and foundation gifts made under the Tyson name totaled more than $27 million.

This is a list of the major, publicly announced gifts from Tyson entities:

• $1 million from Tyson Foods to UA Press —1998
• $3.1 million from Tyson family for the Randal Tyson Track Center — 2000
• $500,000 from the Tyson Foundation to the Randal Tyson Memorial Scholarship Fund — 2001
• Airplane valued at $1.8 million from Tyson Foods to establish the Buddy Wray Chair in Food Safety — 2003
• $7.6 million from Tyson family for the Sigma Nu chapter house, the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Oral and Visual History, and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences — 2005
• $2 million from Tyson Family Foundation for Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace Chair, Walton College — 2007
• $2.5 million from Tyson Foods Foundation and Tyson Family Foundation for new Child Development Center — 2010
• $250,000 from Tyson Foods Foundation to Lemke Journalism Project, Fulbright College — 2010