FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Mark Waldrip and Allison Thomas have been named distinguished alumni for 2014-15 by the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas.

Waldrip is being honored as the Outstanding Alumnus and will present the commencement address to Bumpers graduates on May 9 in Barnhill Arena. Thomas is being recognized by the Bumpers College Alumni Society as the Outstanding Young Alumna and will also address graduates at commencement.

Waldrip is owner of Armor Seed LLC and East Arkansas Seeds Inc. He is a member of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees, where he serves as chair of the Audit and Fiscal Responsibility Committee. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the U of A in 1977 in agricultural economics and agribusiness.

Thomas is chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service in Washington, D.C., where she coordinates program and policy issues regarding U.S. agricultural exports and market access. She earned her master’s degree in agricultural economics from the U of A in 1999.

“The Bumpers College is proud to announce Mark and Allison as our distinguished alumni for 2015,” said Dean Mike Vayda. “Mark is a leader in promoting the growth and development of the agricultural industry in the state through his successful businesses and ventures, and he serves the state and the university in various capacities, including as a member of the Board of Trustees. Mark, his wife Angela and their children have all attended and supported the University of Arkansas, and we are proud to have them as active and engaged members of our Bumpers College family.

“Allison has an amazing career with the USDA,” said Vayda. “She is a wonderful example of the importance of international engagement as a core component of our students’ academic experiences and professional options. She has done a great job in each opportunity she’s earned, and has advanced rapidly. Allison is a great ambassador for the Bumpers College, with the USDA and on the international scene.”

Mark Waldrip

Waldrip lives in Moro while operating Armor Seed LLC, which develops and sells soybeans, wheat, rice and corn to a dealer network in 12 states. He is an owner and manages Waldrip Lands LLC, a diversified agricultural real estate company, and also operates East Arkansas Equipment Co. Inc. He also owns and operates a Sonic restaurant franchise in Marianna.

He is a member of the Arkansas Executive Forum for the Sam M. Walton College of Business and serves on the Lee County Airport Commission. In addition to his service as a member of the Board of Trustees, which runs through 2020, he has formerly served on the Arkansas State Plant Board, the Arkansas Agriculture Board, Farm Credit Mid-South Board and the Arkansas Seed Dealers Association’s Legislative Committee.

Waldrip is married to Angela Eason Waldrip, who earned her bachelor’s in home economics in the Bumpers College at the U of A in 1979. All four of their children attended the U of A, including daughter Katie Waldrip Branscum, who earned a bachelor’s in dietetics and hospitality management in the Bumpers College and was voted Homecoming queen in 2012.

Allison Thomas

Thomas began her career with the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service as an international trade specialist in 2001, serving as the technical expert and analyst for the Russian Federation, Ukraine, European Union and East Africa. She worked as special assistant to the deputy administrator in the service’s Office of Global Analysis from 2008 to 2010, has served as acting deputy coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, and as senior adviser for the U.S. Agency for International Development at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.

IThomas oversees the USDA’s reconstruction and stabilization efforts in Afghanistan and formerly Iraq; and works with USDA personnel in Kabul (and formerly Baghdad) on medical evacuations, promotions, extensions, evaluations and re-assignments. She also previously served as director of Mission Support Operations for the FAS Office of Foreign Service Operations.

Thomas was presented the USDA Leadership Award in 2000, the USDA Outstanding Cross-Agency Team Award in 2008, and the FAS Extra Effort and Spot Award from 2000 to 2010.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.