Donald G Soderquist

Mr. Soderquist was Senior Vice Chairman of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the world's largest retailer, from January 1999 to August 2000. Prior to 1999, Mr. Soderquist was Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Mr. Soderquist currently serves on the board of directors of ARVEST Bank, John Brown University, NWA Community Foundation and the Salvation Army-National. Since 2001, he has been a speaker and business counselor for OnCourse, LLC, a financial planning and investment advisory firm. Soderquist joined Wal-Mart in 1980 after being recruited by Sam Walton to leave the Ben Franklin Stores chain in Chicago. He served in several executive vice president positions before being named chief operating officer and vice chairman in 1988. Soderquist retired from Wal-Mart in 2000. He was inducted to the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame in 2011 and founded the Soderquist Center for Leadership and Ethics at John Brown University, where he served on the board of trustees from 1982 to 2009. In 2014, JBU named its business college after Soderquist. Donald G. Soderquist was born Jan. 29, 1934, in Chicago. He received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Wheaton College in Illinois in 1955. From 1964 to 1980, Soderquist was with Ben Franklin Stores, rising through the ranks to serve as president and CEO for the last six years of his tenure. At Wal-Mart, he was executive vice president of administration and logistics from 1980 to 1985, executive vice president of operations and administration from 1985 to 1988, vice chairman and chief operating officer from 1988 to 1999, and senior vice chairman from 1999 to 2000.