FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Nathan McKinney, assistant director of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, has been accepted for participation in the Food Systems Leadership Institute two-year leadership development program.

The FSLI prepares academic scholars and administrators for upper-level leadership roles in food system programs so they may assume broader responsibilities within their organizations. The FSLI is a program of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. Its leadership theory curriculum is combined with students’ practical experience in food systems and higher education.

McKinney will spend his first year in the program attending executive education-style learning sessions and working with mentors on a personal development plan. In the second year he will apply that material to the development and execution of an individual leadership project.

McKinney’s responsibilities for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station include supporting extramural grants and contracts, multidisciplinary efforts, federal reports and the Arkansas Biosciences Institute.

“I’m confident that my FSLI experience will prove beneficial to the Division of Agriculture and ultimately, to every Arkansas stakeholder,” said McKinney.