Barbara Esch Named Bumpers College Finance Officer

Photo by Russell Cothren

Barbara Esch

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Barbara Esch has joined the staff of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas as finance office.

She moves to the Bumpers College after working at the U of A as director of gift services in University Development since March 2014. Esch was responsible for processing private donations to the foundation and the university, for insuring compliance with regulations and guidelines, working with development and other campus offices on reporting of information and supervising a staff of six.

In her new role, Esch will manage all financial transactions and obligations for campus funds allocated to the Bumpers College, financial planning and reporting as part of the dean's leadership team, providing oversight of campus allocations to departmental budget units within the college, and coordinating with financial officers in the Division of Agriculture for management and policies of oversight in jointly funded units.

She spent 12 years at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, including her last six as associate director of advancement operations in the Office of Institutional Advancement. Her duties included financial and budget reporting from the foundation and university, reviewing disbursements from foundation projects for the campus, working with administrators on fiscal year budgets and managing the College of Medicine matching gift program.

Esch also worked at UAMS as a staff accountant in the Finance Department from 2002 to 2004, as a financial management analyst in the Campus Operations Division from 2004 to 2006 and as fiscal manager for campus operations and the bookstore in the Campus Operations Division.

Esch earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith in 2001 and a master's degree in accounting from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2012.

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.