May 25, 2022
UA System Board of Trustees confirms Fields as VP-agriculture
By Mary Hightower
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Fast facts:
- Trustees act in executive session
- Fields to begin July 1
(285 words)
BATESVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees confirmed Deacue Fields as vice president for agriculture on Wednesday based on a recommendation by System President Donald R. Bobbitt.
The Trustees took action during an executive session. Bobbitt recommended Fields to lead the system’s Division of Agriculture in April following a national search.
“I want to congratulate Dean Fields on being confirmed as the new vice president of agriculture for the U of A System,” said Chuck Culver, who has been serving as interim vice president since Mark Cochran retired in September 2021. “The Division of Agriculture will be in very good hands.”
Fields, currently dean of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, will begin his new job July 1.
“I am grateful for the vote of confidence from both the Board of Trustees and Dr. Bobbitt, and I am excited about this opportunity and look forward to the challenge ahead,” Fields said.
Fields was appointed Bumpers College dean in 2017. He came to Arkansas after serving as professor and chair of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at Auburn University since August 2013. He joined the faculty at Auburn in 2002 and was promoted to associate professor in 2007, an appointment that also included extension duties. He has also worked as an assistant professor and director of small farm outreach at Florida A&M University and as a graduate research fellow in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness at Louisiana State University.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1993, his master’s degree from the University of Missouri in 1995 and his doctorate from LSU in 2002, all in agricultural economics.
To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs to all eligible persons without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
# # #
Media contact:
Mary Hightower
mhightower@uada.edu
501-671-2006