Ex-UA punter named to board

Cox is real-estate firm partner

Steve Cox, a managing partner in a Jonesboro real estate firm and a former football player for the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, has been appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to the UA board of trustees.

Cox, 59, replaces insurance company executive Ben Hyneman, 68, whose 10-year term expired this year. A former NFL player, Cox’s term to the 10-person board expires March 1, 2028.

At UA, Cox earned all-conference honors as a punter in 1979 and 1980, and in 2004 was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

“Everything that university represents — and the people that are associated with it — made me proud,” Cox said.

Cox is a native of Charleston, about 20 miles east of Fort Smith. He began his NFL career without completing degree requirements, but in 1982 earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

“I came back and graduated after my rookie year. I always promised myself and promised my parents that I would graduate and get a degree,” Cox said.

In a statement, Hutchinson praised Cox for demonstrating “the kind of hard work and skill that hearken to Arkansas’ roots.”

Cox is a managing partner in Rainwater & Cox, LLC, an agricultural and commercial real estate firm.

Cox and his wife have two sons, Stephen and Weston, who have earned degrees from UA, he said. Their youngest, Weston, is expected to graduate this year with a UA law degree.

“I just know how good that place has been for me and my family,” Cox said. “There’s all kinds of things that can be done, and challenges. I just hope I can make a contribution in some way.”

Cox serves on the board of directors for the St. Bernards Development Foundation, which supports the Jonesboro hospital.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to experience the professional sports business, the banking business, the hospitality business with hotels, and the agriculture business,” Cox said, adding that he expects to draw upon that as a UA board member.

“The purpose we’re there for is the students,” Cox said. He noted the different types of schools in the UA System, which includes six university campuses and seven two-year community colleges.

“It’s up to that university, not only to education them, but to provide great experiences for them,” Cox said.