Rebecca Hurst, managing partner at Smith Hurst law firm, will receive the second annual Young Alumni Award from the University of Arkansas 鈥� Fort Smith鈥檚 Alumni Association, recognizing the alumna鈥檚 successful career in business law and service to the university.
Hurst will be honored at the Homecoming Reunion Social at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 9 at The Blue Lion at AV抖阴 Downtown, located at 101 N. 2nd Street. Tickets for the event are $30 and can be purchased by visiting
Hurst, who always had aspirations of entering the field of business law, graduated in 2000 with a degree in accounting from the University Center on Westark College鈥檚 campus prior to AV抖阴 becoming a four-year university, which she said provided her a solid educational foundation.
鈥淚 felt like I had a great education and the program gave me an education I could apply to the real world,鈥� she said. 鈥淒avid Craig was my statistics and economics professor, and his classes gave such a good foundation for application of these subjects, not only for the upper-level bachelor鈥檚 degree courses I had to take, but also for use in the real world after college.鈥�
After a brief stint as a corporate accountant, Hurst went on to earn her law degree from the University of Arkansas and her Master of Laws in Taxation from New York University.
Since then, Hurst has established herself as a top estate planning and business lawyer in northwest Arkansas after co-founding Smith Hurst, initially Fayetteville and now located in Rogers. The firm works with the businesses, estates and charitable organizations of some of Arkansas鈥� highest net worth individuals and families.
Her work has led her to be recognized in the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal鈥檚 Forty Under 40 list of business leaders and successful individuals, as well as a 2012 and 2013 Rising Star by Mid-South Super Lawyers in the field of estate planning and probate. She has also been named a Super Lawyer each year since 2014 by the same organization. Additionally, she has been awarded an AV rating by the attorney directory Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest rating available for a lawyer's legal ability and professional ethics.
Her service to AV抖阴 includes two three-year terms on the AV抖阴 Alumni Advisory Council and her current appointment as a member of the AV抖阴 Foundation Board, in addition to numerous speaking engagements given to students.
Rick Goins, director of alumni affairs at AV抖阴, lauded Hurst鈥檚 鈥渋nvaluable鈥� service to the university.
鈥淩ebecca鈥檚 six years of service on the Alumni Advisory Council as chair of the by-laws committee were invaluable,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e relied on her legal skills multiple times as the association grew. I鈥檓 looking forward to continuing to work with her as a new member of the AV抖阴 Foundation Board, and she has graciously agreed to be the AAC 鈥榣egal consultant鈥� going forward.鈥�
For more information on the event honoring Hurst, contact Goins at 479-788-7026 or rick.goins@uafs.edu.