Bowen Law announces $500,000 gift from alumnus Sam Perroni
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law announced a $500,000 gift from alumnus and longtime adjunct professor Sam Perroni during a ceremony Nov. 2. The gift will establish an endowed scholarship for out-of-state students with financial need and support technology upgrades to the law school’s Friday Courtroom.
Perroni, a 1974 graduate who taught trial advocacy and white-collar crime at Bowen from 1977 to 2012, has maintained a close relationship with the law school throughout his legal career. His gift will provide $250,000 to establish the scholarship and $250,000 toward modernizing the Friday Courtroom, a space used for instruction, mock trials, moot court competitions and continuing legal education.
“Sam Perroni has been an extraordinary advocate for this law school, both through his distinguished legal career and his decades of service to our students,” said Dean Colin Crawford. “This gift reflects his deep commitment to the institution that helped shape his career. It will expand opportunities for future students while strengthening the practical legal education that is central to Bowen’s mission.”
The Friday Courtroom, named in honor of prominent Arkansas lawyer Herschel Friday, has served as an important setting for legal education and community programming for decades. Perroni’s contribution will help launch an effort to update the courtroom’s aging technology and better equip the space for contemporary legal instruction.
During the announcement, Perroni reflected on the courtroom’s significance to the law school and the opportunities its modernization will create.
“This courtroom is really kind of the heartbeat of the school,” Perroni said. “I know how much more that this courtroom can be used if it’s brought up into the 21st century and people have the technology that they need to make it work right.”
Perroni’s relationship with Bowen dates to 1971, when he moved to Little Rock from Illinois to pursue his legal education. After graduating in 1974, he began a legal career that included five years as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, where he prosecuted complex white-collar criminal cases. He later served as a U.S. Department of Justice special prosecutor and spent 29 years leading the Perroni Law Firm, representing clients in criminal matters. He also served as a special justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court.
Like the students who will benefit from the new scholarship, Perroni came to Arkansas from out of state to pursue his legal education. The endowed scholarship will provide financial support to future students following a similar path.
Perroni’s commitment to Bowen has extended beyond his years in the classroom. He has previously supported the law school through philanthropy, and a third-floor classroom bears his name in recognition of his contributions.
Price Gardner, a 1988 Bowen graduate and managing partner of Friday, Eldredge & Clark, also spoke during the announcement on behalf of the firm. He highlighted the courtroom’s history and its role in preparing generations of lawyers through practical legal training.
Following the gift announcement, Bowen unveiled a portrait of Perroni painted by Arkansas artist Ray Allen Parker. The portrait will be displayed in the third-floor classroom named in Perroni’s honor.
For Perroni, the gift represents an opportunity to give back to an institution that played a defining role in his life and career.
“I watched this law school grow up,” Perroni told attendees, recalling its early years and the community leaders who worked to secure its future. “I could never repay the debt that I had to this law school.”