LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP

TRIBUTE TO WILLARD J. WALKER HALL

Willard J. Walker's name will be forever linked with Sam Walton, the man whose business he helped build. In 2003, the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation pledged $8 million to the Sam M. Walton College of Business to construct a new graduate school building. The building is named Walker Hall in honor of his success in retail management as an exceptional business leader and his contribution to the creation and development of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Walker was the first manager of Sam Walton's Five and Dime on the Fayetteville Square. Based on Sam Walton's promise that he would receive a share of the store's profits, Walker moved from Tulsa to Fayetteville. He worked hard to make the Fayetteville store a success, working half days for free and sleeping on a cot in the storeroom until the store opened. His investment of time and effort paid off; the first year the store opened, sales were $90,000.

When Wal-Mart went public in 1970, Walker took the risk and bought as much stock as he could by taking out loans from local banks. In his autobiography, Sam Walton wrote: "Willard was the most skillful at getting money. He would cultivate the guys who ran the banks, and they'd let him have what he wanted. Consequently, he realized fabulous returns on it. He had more ownership than any of the managers."

Without managers and investors, like Willard Walker, it has been said Wal-Mart would not be the world's largest company today. Walker retired from Wal-Mart in 1972 and was an active leader in many northwest Arkansas civic and professional organizations.