Freddie Black is President and CEO of Simmons First Bank of South Arkansas. He graduated from Subiaco Academy and the University of Arkansas where he earned his BSBA degree in 1978 and his MBA degree in 1979. He joined Simmons Bank in 1980 and held several positions before being named President and CEO. He is on the Board of Directors of Simmons First Bank of South Arkansas and Simmons First Bank of Dumas. He also currently serves on the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission as Chairman. He and his wife, Laurie, and their three children live in Lake Village and are involved in a family farming operation in Pickens, Arkansas. They are members of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church.

Rick Chapman received a B.S.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Arkansas in 1973. With Walton Enterprises since 1983, Mr. Chapman has been a Foundation Board member since 1999 and currently serves on the Executive and Finance Committees. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Razorback Foundation. Mr. Chapman is married with two children and lives in Bentonville.

Cynthia Conger is President of Cynthia L. Conger CPA PA, a comprehensive wealth management firm which provides advice on a fee-only basis. She has been named to Worth Magazine’s lists of “The Best Financial Advisers in America” since 1998 and their list of the “100 Top Wealth Advisors” for five of the last six years.

Ms. Conger received both her Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting in 1981 and her MBA in 1983 from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, AR. She holds the CPA/PFS and CFP professional designations. She was admitted to the Registry of Financial Planning Practitioners in 1987. She is listed in the current editions of Who’s Who in American Women, Who’s Who in America, and Who’s Who in the World.

Ms. Conger served as a Director on the International Association for Financial Planning’s (IAFP) Board of Directors from 1994 through 1998. She served as Chair of the task force for the IAFP’s 1994 Conference for Advanced Planning (CAP) in Washington, DC. and on the task forces for the 1996 and 1998 IAFP Success Forums, Investment Advisor Magazine Wealth Management Symposium for 2002, and the AICPA PFP Conference for 2005-2008 conferences. She has presented at numerous financial planning conferences around the nation.

Ms. Conger currently serves on the University of Arkansas Foundation Inc. Board, the UALR Foundation Fund Board, and the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas Board as treasurer.

Larry B. Cooper is a retired Regional Vice President-Industry Markets for AT&T. He now serves as a telecommunications consultant to a number of small technology companies. Larry serves as the chairman of the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff Foundation Board. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and an Executive MBA from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

Mr. Epley is a retired attorney, residing in Fayetteville, Arkansas. A native Arkansan, he attended public schools in Springdale before entering the University of Arkansas in 1954, where he received both a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration and the Juris Doctor degree in 1961. He practiced law in Eureka Springs for 40 years and was also involved in banking and business, before he and his wife, Donna, moved to Fayetteville in 2002. In the past he has served as Chairman of the Arkansas State Building Services Council, a Special Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, and held a ten year term on the Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas where he served two years as Chairman. He also served on the steering committee for the Campaign for the 21st Century and as Chairman of the Razorback Bands Committee of the 21st Century Campaign. He is a past chairman of the University of Arkansas Foundation, Inc. and is currently a member of the Board of Advisors for the Fayetteville Campus, Advisory Board for UAMS-Northwest, Advisory Board for UAMS Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging, and the Fayetteville Rotary Club. Lewis also serves as Vice-Chairman of the Bank of Eureka Springs and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Southwestern Energy Company.

Jim Faulkner is a native of Malvern, Arkansas and received his Bachelor of Science in Journalism degree from the University of Arkansas in 1954. He founded Faulkner and Associates, an advertising and marketing firm, as well as several other related business organizations. Jim is a recipient of the Silver Medal Award from the Arkansas Advertising Federation for outstanding contributions to the field. He has also served as an officer or board member of numerous business, civic and cultural organizations. Currently he is active as an investor in banking and real estate development. He serves on the Board of Directors of First Security Bancorp. For the University of Arkansas, Faulkner was a member of the executive committee for the Campaign for the 21st Century. He was named the University’s Volunteer of the year in 2004 and was named to the Hall of Honor of the Lempke Journalism Society in 2005. He also serves on the executive committee for the Board of Advisors for the Fayetteville Campus. Jim and his wife Joyce have five children and eight grandchildren and reside in Little Rock.

Don L. Gibson is the President and CEO of Legacy National Bank headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas. Before the founding of Legacy National bank in 2005, he was Arkansas President for Bank of America. He has his bachelor degree from the University of Arkansas in Business Management in 1970 and a MBA from the U of A in 1973. He also has a graduate degree in Banking from Louisiana State University. Don serves on the Board of the Arkansas Cancer Research Center in Little Rock as well as the executive committee of the University of Arkansas Foundation. He is past president of many organizations including the Springdale Chamber of Commerce and Rotary. He is a past board member of the Community Care Foundation in Springdale. He was selected for the Springdale Civic Service Person of the Year in 1996. He is a board member of the Ryan Gibson Foundation for Leukemia Research which is named for his late son. Don is a life long resident of Northwest Arkansas and he and his wife, Carol Lynn, currently reside in Fayetteville. His son Derek and wife Jennifer along with their children Dylan and Brookelyn reside in Springdale.

Dr. Diane Gilleland currently teaches courses in finance, governance, law and academic policy in the higher education doctoral program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and serves on the boards of SLM Corporation, also known as “Sallie Mae”, and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Foundation. Dr. Gilleland served as the State Higher Education Executive Officer for Arkansas from 1990-1997 and as the Chief Finance Officer from 1986-1990. Prior to joining the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, she served as Deputy Director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education and Senior Fellow at the American Council on Education. Dr. Gilleland has also served in various positions of leadership at the University of Arkansas at Monticello and Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. She also served as a consultant to several state coordinating boards, national higher education organizations, and to the ministries of higher education in South Africa and Mexico. Dr. Gilleland received her bachelors and masters degrees in education with a major in English from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and a Ph.D. in higher education from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

Mary Ann Greenwood is President of M.A. Greenwood & Associates, Inc., a registered investment advisor and President of Greenwood Group Ltd., a pension consulting firm. A native Arkansan, she earned a B.S.B.A. in finance and banking, a M.A. in economics and a Ph.D. in economics and finance from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Her service to the University includes Executive Committee for the University of Arkansas Foundation, Board of Advisors for the Fayetteville Campus, 2010 Commission, member of the Rockefeller Cancer Institute Foundation Board – UAMS, Dean’s Executive Advisory Board for the Walton College of Business, founding member of Towers of Old Main, Executive Committee for Campaign for 21st Century, Chancellor’s Society and Alumni Association. She serves on the investment subcommittee for NCAA, is a member of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts, New York Society of Security Analysts, and the National Association for Business Economics. She also serves on the Washington Regional Medical Foundation Board and is a member of Northwest Arkansas Council, Cancer Challenge Board, and the Fayetteville Rotary Club. Mary Ann and her husband Reed live in Fayetteville where he is a professor and former Dean of the College of Education and Health Professions. They have two children, Anne and Robert, and they are members of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.

Jim von Gremp resides in Rogers, Arkansas and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Missouri and an MBA from the University of Arkansas. Jim is a retired CPA and financial planner and currently serves as a board member of Arvest Bank, Bentonville. Jim is a former State Representative for District #2 and a past chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission. Jim continues to be very active civically and is a current member of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees as well as a board member of the Museum of Native American History, Inc. and the Single Parent Scholarship Foundation of Benton County. His past civic service includes serving as a board member and chairman of the Northwest Arkansas Community Foundation, a commissioner on the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, a member of the board and chairman of the Northwest Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute (NARTI), and as a member of the advisory board of the Genesis Technology Incubator. His main philanthropic and civic priority continues to be to help students gain access to higher education.

Peter Kumpe is a founding partner in Williams & Anderson PLC, a law firm located in Little Rock. He attended Little Rock public schools, graduating from Hall High School. After two years at Duke University, he returned to complete his undergraduate education at Little Rock University (now UALR). After graduation with a Bachelor of Arts Degree, he earned the Juris Doctorate Degree at the University of Texas at Austin. He is active in the Arkansas Bar Association and various civic organizations. He has been a member of the University of Arkansas Foundation Board since 1994, and served as Chairman in 1998-2000.

Kenneth D. Mann, of El Dorado, Arkansas, is the Vice President, Treasurer, and Chief Financial Officer for Deltic Timber Corporation, a natural resources company headquartered in El Dorado. Ken has been with Deltic since 1991. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Arkansas at Monticello, and a Masters in Business Administration degree from Louisiana Tech University.

Frank Oldham joined American State Bank Corporation, parent company of American State Bank, in November, 1997, as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. He also served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American State Bank, Jonesboro, Arkansas, until it merged with BancorpSouth Bank on December 1, 2005. He retired from BancorpSouth in January 2008 after a 34 year banking career. Dr. Oldham served a 10 year term on the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees, and two years as its Chairman. He holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; M.A. in Marketing from Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg, Missouri; B.S. in Business from Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, Arkansas; A.A. in General Business, Williams Baptist College, Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. He is a 1987 graduate of the Advanced Management Program, Graduate School of Business, Harvard University, where he was class chairman. He and his wife, Donna, an accomplished interior designer, are parents of two children – Whitney and Chad. They have three grandchildren, Wyatt and Nicki Oldham and Jayden Miller.

Ned R. Purtle is a native of Hope, Arkansas and a 1956 Graduate of Oklahoma State University with a B.S. Degree in Animal Science. Ned has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas, Chairman of the Animal Science 2000 Campaign and is currently serving on the board of the Agricultural Development Council. He currently serves on the Board of Visitors of the University of Arkansas Community College in Hope and is chairman of UACCH Foundation. Ned, is a full time cattle rancher, who operates the Ned Purtle & Son Ranches near Hope. He also is involved in several other businesses and organizations. He has served as Board Member of Arkansas Farm Bureau, National Cattleman’s Beef Association, Arkansas Beef Council and President of Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association. He served as Chairman of the Board of Arkansas State Bank in Clarksville, Arkansas and is currently serving on the Summit Bank Board in Arkadelphia. He is a member of the Arkansas Agricultural Hall of Fame and is the Chairman of the Arkansas State Fair. He and his wife Carolyn, have two sons Mike and Steve and two granddaughters. They are active members of First United Methodist Church in Hope.

Lee Ronnel is President of Metal Recycling Corporation in Little Rock, Arkansas. He attended public schools in Eastchester, New York before entering the Carnegie Institute of Technology and later New York University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management. After receiving his United States Air Force commission, he served as a flight officer with the Military Air Transport Service for several years before moving to Arkansas with his wife, Dale. He is active in both civic and business organizations having served as Board Chairman of the Arkansas Chapter of the National Association of Purchasing Management, as well as the National Board of Directors of NAPM. He has also served as Board Chairman of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and as President of the Little Rock Racquet Club. He is Chair-elect of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Foundation Board.

Charles Scharlau is a native of Mountain Home, Arkansas. After serving in the United States Marine Corp during World War II , he entered the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where he earned the Juris Doctor degree. He is Counsel with the law firm of Conner and Winters. He is a director Southwestern Energy Company and Arvest Bank-Fayetteville. His service to the University of Arkansas includes President of the Arkansas Alumni Association, served as Chairman of the National Development Council and now serves on a newly created Board of Advisors for the Fayetteville Campus, a Vice Chairman of the Campaign for the 21st Century, the 2010 Commission, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Razorback Foundation. As a member of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees, Mr. Scharlau is past Chairman.

He has been active in civic and business affairs throughout his career. Nationally, he has been on the Board of Directors of the American Gas Association, the Southern Gas Association and the National Association of Manufacturers. He served on the Energy Commission under Governor Dale Bumpers and as Chairman of the Energy Commission under Governor David Pryor. He has been Chairman of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce serving three terms, has served as President of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and served on their Board of Directors.

Cheryl Shuffield is a Director and Equity Member of Moore Stephens Frost, PLC, Arkansas’ largest locally owned accounting firm. She has been engaged in the practice of public accounting in Arkansas for more than twenty-five years, focusing on tax and consultative services to closely held businesses and the families who own them. She is accredited in business valuations and is a frequent speaker on valuation and forensic accounting topics. She has been named one of Arkansas’ top 100 Women. Cheryl currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute Foundation Fund Board and serves on its Executive Committee. She resides in Little Rock with her husband, Elvin Shuffield. They have two adult children, Elaine King and Jason Boyeskie, who live in Little Rock and Fayetteville, respectively.

Julian Stewart is a native of Fayetteville. He attended the University of Arkansas and graduated in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He served three years in the USAF followed by a corporate career with United Gas Corporation and IBM. Since retirement from IBM in 1987, he has been active in real estate development and oil and gas production. He served on the Campaign for the 21st Century as Co-Chairman of the Leadership and Principal Gifts Committee, as a member of the Executive Steering Committee. He currently serves as Chairman of the newly formed Board of Advisors for the Fayetteville Campus. He and his wife, Nana, are Lifetime Members of the Alumni Association and members of the Towers of Old Main. He has been a resident of San Antonio, Texas since 1975 where he is active in his church and has served on various boards. He is an Honorary Life Member of the American Heart Association. He and Nana are parents of two children, James and Elizabeth.

Dick Trammel is a native of Pocahontas, Arkansas and a 1960 graduate of the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. After several years in the cotton gin and grain elevator business in Pocahontas, Dick became vice president and a founding director of Planters and Stockmen Bank. In 1973, Dick relocated to Rogers to become a vice president of First National Bank & Trust Company, which later became Arvest Bank, Rogers. He currently serves as executive vice president, member of the board of directors and board secretary of Arvest Bank, Rogers. Dick is very active civically serving as volunteer for a number of organizations including serving as past president and a current board member of the Rotary Club of Rogers and as past president of Rotary International District 6110, a founding director of the Single Parent Scholarship Fund of Benton County, a founding director and past chairman of the Northwest Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute (NARTI), a member of the UAMS Foundation Fund board, and a charter member of the Board of Trustees of Northwest Arkansas Community College. Dick was appointed by Governor Huckabee to the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board and he served in that capacity until 2008. In January 2009, Governor Beebe appointed Dick to the Arkansas Highway Commission to serve until January 2019.

Debbie Shearer Walker is Executive Director for the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation. Debbie and her husband, Johnny Mike, reside in Fayetteville with their daughter Clancy, age 14. Their son Austin, age 18, attends Hendrix College. A native of Mountain Home, Debbie attended the University of Arkansas, majoring in Secretarial Studies. Debbie has served as a member and two-term president of The New School, a non-profit private school, offering classes for preschool, elementary, and middle school students; as a member of the University of Arkansas Campaign for the 21st Century, a founding member of the UA Women’s Giving Circle, and a charter member of the UA Board of Advisors and currently serves as Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee; and as a member of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Foundation Board and Campaign Imagine Steering Committee. She has also served on both the Washington Regional Medical Foundation Board and the Pagnozzi Charities Board. Debbie and Johnny Mike, have been recognized for their personal philanthropic endeavors as members of Towers of Old Main at the University of Arkansas; the Society of the Double Helix at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; Razorback Foundation Broyles-Matthews Scholarship Donors and as a Major Contributor at The New School. Debbie was recognized in the March, 2008 AY Magazine as one of the Twelve Most Powerful Women in Arkansas.

A native of Warren, Arkansas, Bill Wisener is the Senior Vice President and Community Executive II of Simmons First Bank of South Arkansas and serves as the UAM Foundation Fund Board Chairman.  Wisener was a three-year letterman on the Boll Weevil basketball team before graduating from UAM in 1973 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education. He spent 27 years on the management team of Warren Bank and Trust before joining Simmons First in 2002. He is a former president of the Arkansas Young Bankers Association and a 1984 graduate of the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking in Dallas. Wisener is a member of the Monticello Economic Development Commission board of directors, past president of the UAM Sports Association, and past chairman of the administrative board of the First United Methodist Church of Monticello.  In 2008 he was named a UAM Achievement and Merit Award recipient.