Beta Gamma Sigma to Honor Mack McLarty

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Thomas F. 'Mack’ McLarty

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma in the Sam M. Walton College of Business will honor alumnus Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty in its 2007 induction ceremony, to be held Tuesday, April 3, at the Clarion Inn.

McLarty is currently president of Kissinger McLarty Associates of New York and Washington, D.C. He was initiated into Beta Gamma Sigma 1967 along with his wife, the former Donna Kay Cochran, who will also attend the event.

“Beta Gamma Sigma, the oldest and most prestigious national academic honor society for business students, is also celebrating the 75th anniversary of its founding on the University of Arkansas campus,” said faculty adviser John Norwood. The Alpha of Arkansas Chapter was established on the campus on Feb. 27, 1932. “For the past nine years, the Alpha of Arkansas chapter has been named in the top three chapters in the nation. Twice in the past four years, the chapter was named the number one chapter in the country.” Norwood is also associate professor of business law and director of the Walton College’s Honors Program.

Walton College Dean Dan Worrell will introduce McLarty to more than 200 students, parents, faculty and UA administrators. Worrell said: “The Walton College and Beta Gamma Sigma are very proud to be able to recognize Mr. McLarty as one of our exceptional graduates. He is an individual who exemplifies the qualities of leadership and vision that we try to instill in our students.”

A native of Hope, McLarty served former President Clinton as chief of staff, counselor to the president and special envoy for the Americas. He is currently president of Kissinger McLarty Associates of New York and Washington, D.C. He also serves as a senior adviser of the Carlyle Private Equity Group and as chairman of Randall and Dewey, a leading global energy industry advisory firm. In addition, he continues to lead the McLarty Companies and most recently formed the partnership, McLarty-Landers Automotive Group. He also serves on the boards of several corporations. In the 1980s, he was president and CEO of Arkansas Louisiana Gas Co.

McLarty was elected president of the Associated Students while at the university. He graduated summa cum laude in general business in 1969 from the Walton College and was awarded a University of Arkansas honorary degree in 2000.

The McLartys have a long history of service to the university. In 1999, he donated a collection of his personal papers to the University Libraries Special Collections. In 2002, they gave $100,000 for the Thomas F. and Donna McLarty Endowed Study Abroad Scholarships in the Walton College. He was a member of the university’s Campaign for the Twenty-First Century steering committee. Last year, they pledged $15,000 for a University of Arkansas student fellowship to the Washington-based Center for the Study of the Presidency. Also in 2006, he served as moderator for the Walton College Business Forecast event.

The Walton College Beta Gamma Sigma will initiate 70 of its most outstanding students in the college: the top 7 percent of the junior class, the top 10 percent of the senior class, and the top 20 percent of the master's class.

In addition, the honor society will recognize 18 initiates from 1957, including Lorna Stokenbury Pryor who holds the first doctoral degree awarded to a woman by the Walton College. Four of this group will attend tonight: Pryor, Reynolds Griffith, Mary Warriner Stowe McBee and Lennox F. Pruitt. The group also includes Harold R. Baer, Janice Hale Wallis Barbo, Paul B. Gilbreth, Patricia May Turner Green, Orville J. Hall, Robert L. Lewis, Jane Smith Littlejohn, James C. Oliphant, Robert L. Patton, James E. Pinkerton, Ronald L. Scott, Darrell L. Spriggs, Floyd R. Trafford, Charles E. Vinson, and honorary initiate that year, Louis Edward Hurley. Pryor has a Ph.D. in economics and was a professor in the Walton College for several years.

The following students and faculty will be 2007 initiates into Beta Gamma Sigma:

Juniors:  Tyler M. Anderson, David B. Bingham, Stephanie Lynn Bond, Rebecca Ann Brandt, Katherine Elizabeth Busby, Stephen Michael Butler, Molly Kristen Carnahan, Scott Andrew Coulter           , Andrew Maxwell Endicott, Jennifer Marie Heisserer, Jessica Hesseltine, William Richard Hobbs, William Cody Jones,       Yerim Kim, Stephen Robert Koehler   , Kara Kimbria-Kathleen Martin, Tamara Leigh Mason, Marissa Myers, Katherine Elizabeth O’Connell, Amanda Sue Otto, Phillip Peterson, Spencer Dean Piland, Sarah Jannae Rieske, Allen P. Saunders, Alex Varnell Shearer, Ryan Lee Smith, Thomas Vo and Andrew Joseph Wise.

Seniors: Aaron S. Ablondi, Stacy Lamae Anderson, Brandon Eugene Barr, Caleb J. Baucom, Jessica Kate Bridges, Amanda LeAnne Chandler, Christopher James Cullen, Jamie Ann Curtis, Sean Thomas Dewitt,             Maria Grabovski, Megan C. Harris, Katie J. Horne,         Ekaterina O. Kramer, Shawnee Kay Kohlman, Nicholas A. Manning, Michelle Ann Martin, Danial Dale Morris, Patrick Henry Murphy, Rebecca Diana Nevin, Huong Pham, Lauren Michelle Quick, James M. Staley,  John David Tamas, Joseph T. Tran, Emily Michelle Welty, Jennifer Lee Wilhite and J. Danielle Williams.

Masters: Amat Adarov, Christopher Billings, Glen Adam Cogburn, Morgan Ashli Hogue, Ray A. James, Zachary Johnson, Phillip Dean Kindy, Rachel Malinda Martin, Paul Thomas McDowell, Trisha Nicole McRoberts, Cesar Vadim Mugnatto, Jason Charles Oates, Kevin Michael Sedlacek, Kyle Ryan Sharpe, Riley Bradford Shearin, Kavitha Siddada and Keith Wayne Smithpeters.

Faculty: Craig Rennie, holder of the Clete and Tammy Brewer Professorship in Business, Rebsamen Trust Portfolio Management class and Shollmier Fund class adviser.

Norwood announced the chapter had been awarded a $1,000 scholarship, which is given to chapters with exceptionally high membership-acceptance rates. Beta Gamma Sigma also has two endowed scholarships: the Mary Lou Morris Cravens Endowed Scholarship, and the John Dominick Endowed Scholarship, established by Julia Peck Mobley of Texarkana.