Couples' Gift Establishes Law Professorship

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A $250,000 gift from University of Arkansas alumni Sid and Rita Davis of Fayetteville has established a professorship in the School of Law. The first holder of the professorship, Mary Beth Matthews, was announced at an April 29 event to recognize the Davises for their philanthropy.

 The Davis’ gift received a $250,000 match through the Matching Gift Program to create a $500,000 endowment for the Sidney Parker Davis, Jr. Professorship of Business and Commercial Law. The purpose of the professorship is to supplement a nationally recognized professor of law whose teaching, scholarship and service will focus on business and commercial law.

 Richard Atkinson, dean of the School of Law, said, “Countless law students who had the good fortune of being in Sid’s insurance class remember well his demanding standards. If we now turn the tables and measure Sid and Rita by equally stringent criteria, they would set the curve for professionalism, intellect, and character. We are deeply appreciative of their generosity which will enable the Law School to foster
these same values in future generations of students.”

 Sid Davis majored in mathematics at Henderson State Teacher’s College. After graduation, he served in the Army for two years at the tail end of the Korean War. He then went to work for a natural gas pipeline company before attending law school at the University of Arkansas.

 The Davises have said it was their desire to give something back to their alma mater and they chose to create a professorship.

 Sid Davis said: “Bringing in capable teachers goes a long way toward educating lawyers. I had good teachers and those were the ones who made a difference in my education.”

     Rita Davis, also a UA alumna earning both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in public administration, got a taste for the legal profession while in college. The public administration curriculum required students take 13 hours in the law school. Upon graduation, Mrs. Davis worked for the U.S. Courts in Fayetteville.

     “We’ve both been interested in law,” Rita Davis said. “And especially since I had a few years in law school, I’ve had a big interest in UA law. We’ve always had an interest in the growth and acceleration of the University of Arkansas School of Law program. In fact, most of the lawyers in Sid’s office are also UA law graduates.”

     The Davises are longtime UA supporters and Towers of Old Main. Sid Davis is a member of the School of Law Campaign committee and Rita Davis is a member of the Women’s Giving Circle. The couple has previously funded a scholarship for law students.  

The $300 Million Challenge total is $282 million and the overall Campaign total is $904 million as of April 15, 2005, against a goal of $1 billion.

Mary Beth Matthews , B.S., J.D. is a professor of law at the University of Arkansas School of Law. She received her undergraduate and J.D. degrees at the University of Arkansas and was admitted to practice in Arkansas in 1978. She has been in private practice and has taught at the University of Arkansas School of Law since 1978. She joined the faculty as an assistant professor in 1986 and became a full Professor in 1996. Matthews primarily teaches courses in the commercial and corporate law curriculum — contracts, negotiable instruments and business organizations. Her research interests include credit cards, shareholder derivative suits and limited liability companies.