Child Development Study Center Receives Support from A.L. Chilton Foundation

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Jean Tyson Child Development Study Center at the University of Arkansas has received a $75,000 gift from the A.L. Chilton Foundation in Dallas, Texas.

 “Educating our youth to enable them to better serve our communities is a primary goal of the A.L. Chilton Foundation,” said Patti Bell Brown, a member of the foundation’s distribution committee. “A.L. Chilton Foundation committee member Bonnie Bell Harding, a 1969 graduate, and I, a 1975 graduate, both hold bachelor’s degrees in elementary education from the U of A. We feel that preparing our young people to reach their greatest potential is of most importance. The Jean Tyson Child Development Study Center will provide a first-class learning environment for the university and their early childhood programs, helping students to reach their goals.”

Currently, the campus offers an Infant Development Center and a Nursery School through the School of Human Environmental Sciences in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. Both the Infant Development Center and the Nursery School are vital to students and employees who need quality childcare close to campus. They are also important resources to the many University of Arkansas students who study child development, nursing and early childhood education and rely on these learning labs to obtain valuable first-hand experience. Both programs, while accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, are currently housed in inadequate and outdated facilities.

The new center will have much-needed additional space for observations and interacting. The closer proximity to campus is also a key asset of the new facility.

“We are most appreciative of the Chilton Foundation’s support of this facility,” said Bruce Pontious, associate vice chancellor for development. “The university’s relationship with the foundation began many years ago, and through their support of student scholarships and the Pat Walker Health Center, they have made a difference for so many students on our campus. The Jean Tyson Child Development Study Center is another outstanding way the University of Arkansas continues to serve the community, and we couldn’t do it without the support of our benefactors.”

The A.L. Chilton Foundation is an independent foundation set up in 1945 in Texas by Arthur L. and Leonore Chilton. Mr. Chilton, who owned Sky Broadcasting Service, a chain of radio stations in Texas and Arkansas, died in 1973. The foundation’s primary funding interests are in the areas of health care, religious organizations and education.

To date, the new center has also received significant private funding from the Tyson Foods Foundation, the Tyson Family Foundation, both based in Northwest Arkansas, and Zero Mountain Inc. of Fort Smith. Construction is expected to begin this fall.