H. Watt Gregory III, a partner in Kutak Rock LLP which helps its clients with their emerging technology needs, was honored Tuesday, March 27, as the 2012 recipient of UALR’s Fribourgh Award.

Gregory was the guest of honor at a reception sponsored by the College of Science and Mathematics from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Great Hall at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library. Tickets benefited the college’s Leadership Endowed Scholarship Fund for undergraduates in health, mathematics, and science.

“UALR’s College of Science and Mathematics created the James H. Fribourgh Award in 2010 to honor not only Dr. Fribourgh’s contributions to UALR and the Arkansas science community as a whole, but to extend that honor and recognition to others who meet the high standards Dr. Fribourgh set,” said Dean Michael Gealt.

Professor Emeritus Fribourgh, the former science dean and interim chancellor for whom the award is named, was the first recipient of the honor in 2010.

Gregory has represented emerging technology companies as well as venture capital and private equity funding sources in fields such as cancer, osteoporosis, and other disease diagnostics and therapeutics, as well as in the food safety and animal husbandry industries.

Since 1969, Gregory’s practice has been concentrated in business development and finance, including handling initial public offerings and issuance of other equity and debt securities in the public markets. He also has provided lead counsel services in mergers and acquisitions of public and private companies and in handling private equity and venture capital-related financing involved in technology business development.

Gregory provides corporate and securities guidance in the financial services and information technology industries. In the health care industry, he has been lead counsel in acquisitions and dispositions of publicly owned health care companies and private transactions involving nursing facilities, transitional hospitals, hospice and home health care agencies, institutional pharmacies, and outpatient and rehabilitation therapy centers.

Gregory is a member of the executive committee and immediate past chair of Accelerate Arkansas, a nonprofit initiative of business, professional, and educational leaders in Arkansas seeking to accelerate the growth of knowledge-based industries and infrastructure support in the state.

Accelerate Arkansas has been responsible for the creation of several state-funded programs authorized by the Arkansas General Assembly to advance job creating research with the Arkansas Research Alliance. The nonprofit also supports entrepreneurial mentorship with Innovate Arkansas and provides early stage Arkansas technology companies with risk capital with the Arkansas Risk Capital Matching Fund.

He is a member of the executive committee of the Arkansas Venture Forum and served as co-chair of the 2004 Arkansas Venture Conference. In 2005, he was the recipient of the organization’s first Forum Award for Leadership and Support for Entrepreneurship in Arkansas.

Gregory earned an L.L.B. from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1966 and a B.A. degree from Vanderbilt University in 1963. He is a member of the American, Arkansas, and Pulaski County Bar Associations. He served on the Arkansas Arts Center board from 1990 to 1998 and chaired the Intellectual Property Law Section of the Arkansas Bar Association in 2002.