$1 million gift to UA will establish faculty chair post

Wood design to be promoted

FAYETTEVILLE— A $1 million gift from a Little Rock couple will establish a faculty chair position at the University of Arkansas for the leader of a wood design degree concentration.

Ray Dillon, former president and CEO of Deltic Timber Corp., and his wife, Deborah, are making the gift.

Half of the couple’s donation will support the planned Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation, with an entrance hall to be named in the couple’s honor.

The new center — estimated to cost $16 million — will house wood and timber design initiatives and has been described by UA Chancellor Joe Steinmetz as a future “landmark building.” It is being designed by Dublin-based Grafton Architects, whose co-founders won this year’s prestigious Pritzker Prize.

“The Anthony Timberlands Center will help educate young people and raise awareness that there’s more than concrete and steel available for structural building materials,” Dillon said in a statement released by the university.

His gift is the latest in support of the center, named in honor of another Arkansas timberman, John Ed Anthony.

In 2018, UA announced a $7.5 million gift from Anthony and his wife, Isabel, to support creation of the center.

Dillon, in a statement, described coming to know Anthony, who is chairman of the board for Anthony Timberlands.

“I developed a tremendous respect for John Ed, and he became a mentor to me. We were competitors, but we respected one another. And one of the things we talked about was how a timber innovation center was needed in Arkansas,” Dillon said.

Peter MacKeith, dean of UA’s Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, in a statement praised Dillon for supporting initiatives in wood design.

“I look forward to entering into the Ray and Deborah Dillon entrance hall of the new building, and to identifying and welcoming the Dillon Professor of Timber and Wood Design Innovation,” MacKeith said. The Dillon professor will direct UA’s Master of Design Studies degree concentration in integrated wood design, according to the university.