FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas head coaches in multiple sports remembered philanthropist Jama Fowler this week for her contributions to their programs.
Fowler died in Jonesboro on April 20. She was 85.
In 2014, Fowler’s family donated $2.5 million toward the $9.1 million cost of the Razorbacks’ 52,000-square-foot indoor baseball practice facility that was named for the family. The Fowler Center, which is adjacent to the Tyson Indoor Track Center across a driveway from the baseball stadium, also is used as a warm-up and throwing area for indoor track athletes.
Arkansas baseball coach Dave Van Horn said the building helped elevate his program’s perception nationally. Since construction was completed in 2014, Van Horn’s team has been to the College World Series three times, won three SEC West division championships and the SEC regular-season and tournament titles last year.
The Razorbacks have been ranked in every coaches poll for five years, including in the top 10 each week since 2019.
“That facility not only helped us recruit some players that were very, very good here who are still playing, but we became a lot better defensive team,” Van Horn said. “Just the defensive work that we were able to do in the offseason, we never missed a beat on the defensive side. You can hit in there.
“That building and (the Fowlers’) contribution to get that going, it ended up being a lot nicer than I ever probably imagined when it started. We’ve definitely used that building to build this program.”
Lance Harter, the women’s track coach, said the Fowler Center is utilized every day by at least one of the three programs it was designed to benefit — baseball, men’s track and women’s track, which combined have more than 150 athletes.
“The generosity of the Fowler family to allow us to have that building has been truly a blessing to all three programs as far as having a sanctuary when weather is bad,” Harter said.
Chris Bucknam, the men’s track coach, said the facility is used year round, not just seasonally. He said his program hosted recruits there as recently as Monday.
“We’re just so grateful for the generosity of the Fowlers and what they’ve done,” Bucknam said. “That facility, it’s not just an indoor facility.
“We mourn for their loss and know that their family has made such an impression on us and helped a lot of young people work on their trade and be part of a great experience here at Arkansas. And they’ve enriched it by what they’ve done for us.”
Harter said the addition of the Fowler Center has made the Razorbacks’ indoor track facility a destination. The Razorbacks have hosted two NCAA indoor championship meets and three SEC championship meets since the Fowler Center extension was added.
Arkansas will also host the next two SEC indoor meets, as well as the NCAA indoor meet in 2026.
“It’s the ultimate combination of a great warm-up and preparatory center to ultimately take care of competition at the Tyson Center,” Harter said. “Obviously as a family we’re sad for the Fowlers to lose a matriarch of their family. Her memory will always be with that building.”
Fowler was born in the southwest Arkansas city of Amity in 1936. She attended business school in Little Rock and, according to a UA release, lived in Europe for a short time with her husband, Wallace, who was assigned to work as a technician at a dental lab at 98th General Hospital in Neubrucke, Germany.
The Fowlers moved to Jonesboro and built multiple businesses, including Fowler Foods, which managed as many as 93 KFC restaurants. The Fowlers were also involved in furniture and banking ventures.
Jama Fowler was a board member for several Arkansas banks. Wallace Fowler was chairman and chief executive officer of Liberty Bank until 2013.
The Fowlers served on steering committees for two UA capital campaigns that each raised more than $1 billion. In 2005, the Fowlers donated $1.75 million toward a new residence for the UA chancellor, the Fowler House, which hosts many events each year.
In 2018, Wallace and Jama Fowler were given honorary Doctor of Art and Humane Letters degrees by the UA.
The Fowlers traveled across the country to Razorback sporting events in a 45-foot motorhome. In addition to the baseball and track facility, they donated toward expansion of Reynolds Razorback Stadium and other “significant gifts,” according to a UA release.
“Everywhere you look on campus, you can see touches of the Fowler family, including our athletic facilities,” UA athletics director Hunter Yurachek said in a statement. “We are saddened by the loss of Mrs. Fowler and are eternally grateful for her and Mr. Fowler’s support over the past two decades.”
Jama Fowler is survived by her husband of 65 years, as well as three sons and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.