Division of Agriculture welcomes Mahfouz as general counsel
“We are fortunate to have someone with Nga’s depth of experience working for our team. With her background in both the public and private sectors and for entities dealing with domestic and international affairs, she’s a good match for the work we do.” — Deacue Fields
By Mary Hightower
U of A System Division of Agriculture
June 30, 2023
Fast facts
- Mahfouz joins Division of Agriculture from attorney general’s office
- Has prior public and private sector experience
- Mahfouz is a Bowen law graduate
(332 words)
(Newsrooms: with art of Mahfouz;
‘Umphrey’ in 4th graf is cq; ‘Nga’ pronounced ‘NEE-ya’)
LITTLE ROCK — Nga Mahfouz is bringing more than 25 years of public and private sector experience as she joins the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture as its general counsel.
Mahfouz, of Hot Springs, earned her juris doctorate at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law after earning a B.S. in accounting from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.
Before joining the division, Mahfouz served in the Arkansas attorney general’s office as senior assistant attorney general for the agencies division and assistant attorney general for the civil litigation division. Some of her work with the attorney general’s office was with two-year colleges.
Her private sector experience includes serving as a chief legal officer for RP Holdings Group and as an associate with Provost Umphrey. Mahfouz also served as staff attorney for the City of Bryant and staff litigator for the Arkansas Municipal League.
Mahfouz’s move to the Division of Agriculture seemed like a natural transition.
“I represented two-year colleges for eight of the 10 years I worked at the Arkansas attorney general's office,” she said. “Moving to a university job seemed like an excellent way to professionally develop the skills I had acquired as a legal adviser to institutions of higher education.
“My knowledge of the substantive laws relevant to higher education, my previous experience advising colleges, and my commitment to regularly training clients will serve me well as I begin my new role,” Mahfouz said.
Deacue Fields, head of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said that “We are fortunate to have someone with Nga’s depth of experience working for our team. With her background in both the public and private sectors and for entities dealing with domestic and international affairs, she’s a good match for the work we do.”
Mahfouz said she was looking “forward to being part of a team that has such a large presence in every county in the state. There will be tremendous opportunities to forge new relationships and offer training.”
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension
Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division
of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture,
visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.
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. The Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work
within the nation’s historic land grant education system through the Agricultural
Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service.
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.
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Media contact: Mary Hightower
mhightower@uada.edu