Kenneth Pat Wilson was a patriarch of the Jacksonville community, promoting economic and financial education in the state before his death in 2002. Now his son Larry is continuing that legacy, presenting UALR with $100,000 to create the Kenneth Pat Wilson Center for Economic Education in his father’s honor.

The center, named for the elder Wilson who organized the First National State Bank in 1949, will train kindergarten through 12th grade teachers to implement economic education in their classrooms.

Dr. Ken Galchus, professor of economics at UALR and director of the new center, said the elder Wilson, during his life, pushed for a statewide organization to educate students about economics and finances.

“There are a lot of people who don’t know the basics of using a credit card or don’t know much about savings accounts, so we’ve thought about offering workshops for various under-served people in the community,” Galchus said. “Perhaps with this interest being generated by this gift, it will allow us to do that.”

Kenneth Wilson, the husband of the late Ruth Nixon Wilson, was instrumental is helping to bring the Little Rock Air Force Base to the Jacksonville area. In 2007, he was named to the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame.

Larry Wilson, who serves on the board of the Arkansas Council of Education, his brother Mike, a former state legislator and current member of the UALR Board of Visitors, and their sister, Kathy Wilson Roberts, said they hoped the center would be a lasting legacy to their father.

The Kenneth Pat Wilson Center for Economic Education at UALR is one of six university-based centers in the state, all of which are overseen by the state organization Economics Arkansas. For more information about the UALR center, call 501.569.8867.