FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Michelle Pribbernow of Fayetteville is the new director of student recruitment for the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas. Pribbernow will assume her new duties Oct. 8 and report to Mike Vayda, dean of the Bumpers College. Pribbernow is expected to work closely with the office of university admissions and department heads in execution of the Bumpers College recruiting plan. 

“Michelle Pribbernow comes to us with a wealth of experience and expertise from her five years of experience in university admissions” said Vayda. “She has a keen sense of student and parent perspectives and is very knowledgeable of what prospective employers look for in our students to enhance their workforce. I am very pleased to have Michelle lead our student recruitment effort as we aspire to be a primary unit contributing to Chancellor Gearhart’s mission to make the University of Arkansas a ‘Top 50 Public University’ by 2021.”

“We are thrilled to have Michelle join the Bumpers College family,” said Steve Halbrook, department head of agricultural economics and agribusiness. “Michelle brings a delightful mix of talent, personality and experience to the position, fits right into the college administrative team and shares our commitment to be the premier institution developing the next generation of leaders in professions advancing food, family and the environment.”

Pribbernow studied at the University of Notre Dame, where she earned her bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in anthropology. She earned a master’s degree in anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh, where she was recognized as a Japan Iron and Steel Fellow and a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellow. Pribbernow worked as a research assistant at Stony Brook University and as an academic adviser at Indiana University. In 2007, she moved to Fayetteville to join the university’s office of undergraduate admissions, where she has contributed to the university’s unprecedented success in increasing both undergraduate enrollment and student academic quality. Pribbernow has advanced over the past five years from assistant director to associate director for in-state recruitment and now joins the Bumpers College dean’s office as a partner in furthering the University of Arkansas’s admissions and recruiting efforts.

 “I am excited to promote a unit that has such important impact on the state of Arkansas and the nation,” Pribbernow said. “It is key that prospective students know about the professional career opportunities our programs provide and the meaningful work they can do in advancing human health and quality of life through our interactions with food, the environment and families. I’m excited to be a part of the future of the Bumpers College.”