Ray Thornton, Former President of the UA System, Remembered on Campus

Ray Thornton as a law student in 1956.

Ray Thornton stands to ask a question during a lecture at Old Main’s auditorium.

“Cowboy Ray” Thornton sang homilies to get elected president of ASG.

Thornton celebrates victory in the student election.

Ray Thornton, president of ASG, with his fellow officers.

Ray and Betty Thornton in 2013, celebrating gift to Special Collections.

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Ray Thornton, UA System President, 1984-1990.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Ray Thornton, who served as president of the University of Arkansas Associated Student Government in 1956 and as president of the UA System from 1984-1990, passed away Wednesday, April 13, at the age of 87.

Thornton was born in Conway and grew up in Sheridan. He attended the University of Arkansas for two years before winning a scholarship to attend Yale University. He later returned to the U of A to attend the School of Law. In 1956 he ran a light-hearted campaign for ASG president as “Cowboy Ray” Thornton, the singing candidate. It was the first of many successful political campaigns. Later that year he graduated with a law degree, married Betty Jo Mann of Sheridan, and began practicing law.

He was elected attorney general of Arkansas in 1970 and served one term before successfully running for Congress. He represented the 4th Congressional District for three terms, during which time he served on the House Judiciary Committee that investigated the Watergate burglaries and drafted the articles of impeachment against President Nixon.

Thornton’s career in higher education began with four years as president of Arkansas State University, before being name the UA System president in 1984. During his tenure he facilitated moving the president’s office from Fayetteville to Little Rock, to provide more centralized leadership for the system.

He also appointed Dan Ferritor as chancellor for the Fayetteville campus.

“My first reaction upon hearing the news that Ray Thornton had died was that he significantly changed my life when he asked me to take the leadership role at the University of Arkansas,” Ferritor said. “When I had more time to think about it, I realized I was not alone, as he changed the lives of thousands of Arkansans every year serving as the Arkansas attorney general, U.S. congressman, president of Arkansas State University, president of the University of Arkansas System, U.S. congressman again and as an Arkansas Supreme Court justice.”

Thornton served three terms as congressman for 2nd Congressional District in 1990, then was elected to the Arkansas Supreme Court in 1996. He served as a justice for eight years, retiring in 2004. In 2009, he was appointed as the first chair of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery and held that position for a year.

Thornton and his wife returned to the U of A for a celebration after he donated his papers to the University Libraries’ Special Collections.

“The entire University of Arkansas family is saddened by the loss Ray Thornton,” said Chancellor Joseph Steinmetz. “He dedicated his career to public service, and few have accomplished so much.”

See interviews of Thornton conducted by the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.