New UALR Scholarship Honors Contractor, Mayor

A new scholarship has been established at UALR honoring the legacy of construction contractor and former mayor Martin Borchert. Jim Russenberger, Borchert’s business partner when they founded ASCO Hardware, endowed the new UALR Martin Borchert Construction Management Scholarship with a $15,000 gift. Borchert began his career in the building trade as a 19-year-old bookkeeping apprentice at Acme Brick Co. He served four years as a B-17 bomber pilot in World War II – receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross for valor and service, including one of the first daylight raids over Berlin – and later founded the Martin Borchert Co. in 1960 and ASCO Hardware Co. in 1970. Outside of his career, Borchert loved politics and was a force behind the scenes in the political careers of former governors Dale Bumpers and Bill Clinton. Elected to the largely ceremonial position as mayor of Little Rock in 1966, Borchert embraced the concept of urban renewal and downtown revitalization that bought him and Little Rock to national attention. During his mayoral term, 11 major construction projects broke ground or expanded in downtown Little Rock. He was credited with parlaying $85 million in federal and local funds to attract private investments of $500 million. “This scholarship is an apt memorial to a visionary who played a leading role in what Little Rock is today,” said Bob Denman, UALR’s executive director of development. “Martin Borchert helped build Little Rock and now the Borchert Scholarship will be building the people who will build its future.” UALR’s construction management program is an interdisciplinary baccalaureate degree that builds upon construction methods, engineering techniques, and business courses offered in the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology (EIT) and the College of Business. Construction management graduates are equipped to meet the technical challenges of the 21st century and the highly specialized demands of the modern construction industry.