SMU Cox Alumnus Inducted into Arkansas Business Hall of Fame

Dallas (SMU) – Congratulations to SMU Board of Trustee and SMU Cox Executive Board member Gerald Alley MBA ‘75, inducted into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame on Feb. 7. Alley is the president and CEO of Con-Real, LP, a construction, real estate, program management, technology and innovation services company based in Arlington, Texas. The youngest of five children, Alley co-founded Con-Real with older brother Troy, Jr. shortly after they both earned their MBAs at SMU Cox.

As the child of parents who opened the first African American-owned business in Pine Bluff, Arkansas—Alley Service Station—during the Depression, Gerald Alley developed an entrepreneurial spirit at a young age. Today, Alley heads up one of the country’s largest minority-owned businesses. Besides serving as an SMU trustee and SMU Cox Executive Board member, Alley is part of the Dean’s Executive Council at the SMU Meadows School of the Art. He is also active with the University of Arkansas, where he received his undergraduate degree.

The Cox School honored Alley and his brother Troy as Distinguished Alumni in the spring of 2013, and the University of Arkansas honored the brothers as Chancellor’s Medal recipients in 2019. Gerald Alley was inducted into the 2020 Arkansas Business Hall of Fame with publisher Olivia Farrell; Charles Nabholz, founder of a commercial real estate firm; and Reynie Rutledge, chairman of First Security Bank in Searcy, Arkansas. The Sam M. Walton College of Business established the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame in 1999 to recognize Arkansans who are successful business leaders.