Bill Clark Portrait, New Endowed Professorship, Unveiled by Department of Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering

Citing relationships with the campus stretching back more than 50 years, officials with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock-based construction firm Clark Contractors and Clark family members gathered at the university Monday, March 18, to unveil a portrait of legendary Arkansas businessman William E. “Bill” Clark. Officials also used the occasion to announce a new Bill Clark Endowed Professorship of Construction Management, funded by a $250,000 gift from the Clark family.

The portrait of Clark will hang in the Clark Project Management Lab, a flexible space on the third floor of the Engineering Technology and Applied Sciences building that’s used for collaboration, projects and classes by students in Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering courses. The lab opened in September 2021, with renovation funding and financial support provided by Clark Contractors, a Little Rock-based construction firm founded in 2009 by Bill Clark’s son, William Clark.

Dr. Lawrence Whitman, Dean of the Donaghey College of STEM, told the gathering the endowment signifies “a new era” for Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering at UA Little Rock. Whitman said it will help the program attract and retain top-notch educators, as well as support workshops, study-abroad programs, conferences and other professional development opportunities for students and faculty.

“This gift will have a transformative, lasting impact on the Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering program here at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock,” Whitman said. “We’re so appreciative of alumni, friends and industry partners like Bill Clark, William Clark and the entire Clark family. Their support of UA Little Rock during our Centennial Campaign is helping transform education here in Arkansas for the next generation.”

A past chairman of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees and a member of the Arkansas Construction Hall of Fame, William E. “Bill” Clark passed away in May 2007. Clark briefly attended UA Little Rock as a young man, then worked as an electrical subcontractor for over 25 years before partnering with Dillard’s, Inc. to form CDI Contractors in 1987. Under his leadership, CDI went on to build some of the state’s most recognized structures, including the Clinton Presidential Library, Dillard’s Headquarters, the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine and Neuroscience Center at UAMS and many others.

Before the portrait unveiling, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Dr. Ann Bain said the Clark Project Management Lab has inspired other local construction companies to fund and equip their own facilities at UA Little Rock.

“That gift started a trend,” Bain told Clark. “If you walk through this building, you can see that trend…. So thank you for being a leader.”

Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering students now have access to more than 10 construction- and engineering-themed educational spaces across campus. Each was renovated and outfitted by a different construction-related firm, including Kinco Construction, Riggs Cat, Bernhard, Nabholz Construction, James A. Rogers Excavating and others.

Addressing the crowd, William Clark acknowledged his mother, sister, wife, son and colleagues from Clark Contractors who were in attendance. He said the endowed professorship made sense for his company, as over 30 percent of the current, salaried employees at Clark Contractors are graduates of UA Little Rock’s Construction Management program.

Clark went on to cite his family’s long relationship with the campus, including that his father was one of the earliest donors to the project that helped launch the Construction Management program, and that his mother, Margaret Clark, was one of the last graduates of Little Rock University before the institution joined the UA System and became UA Little Rock in 1969.

Clark said those who aren’t in the construction industry might not realize the impact the Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering program at UA Little Rock has had on local companies and the community. “It has truly trained up some great builders that have changed the skyline of our city,” he said.

After the ceremony, Clark said the portrait and endowment is a way to honor his father while carrying on Bill Clark’s legacy of helping students at UA Little Rock, including those Clark Contractors and other firms will someday hire. William Clark said he and other business leaders appreciate UA Little Rock’s willingness to collaborate with industry to learn what local construction actually needs from graduates.

“Everybody benefits from it,” Clark said. “I know how hard the faculty and staff in the Construction Management Department have worked to build this program up from scratch, and it has really made a difference in the industry in Central Arkansas. Thirty percent of my employees literally took classes in this room.”