FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Matt McCoy, associate general counsel of the University of Arkansas System, will be joining the Fayetteville campus Office of the General Counsel starting Monday, Jan. 4, 2016.

He will fill a vacancy left by associate general counsel Scott Varady, who has been named executive director of the Razorback Foundation, effective Dec. 1.

"Matt has proven himself to be an outstanding attorney during his time with the U of A System office," said Fred Harrison, general counsel for the U of A System. "I am confident he will be an excellent addition to the office on the Fayetteville campus."

McCoy has represented colleges and universities for the last 10 years, the past six with the U of A System, and has more than 15 years of experience representing government and public institutions. 

He served as an assistant Arkansas attorney general in the Civil Litigation Division, where his primary practice was education, government, employment and constitutional law. He has represented numerous state officials, state agencies, colleges and universities in federal and state court and in class action lawsuits.

He successfully defended constitutional challenges to the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery and other state legislation before the Arkansas Supreme Court. He was also the state's lead counsel in Lakeview v. Huckabee, the state of Arkansas' long-running school-funding litigation, when the Arkansas Supreme Court declared the state's system of public education constitutional. 

McCoy served on the Arkansas Attorney General's Legislative Affairs Committee and advised the Arkansas House and Senate Joint Education Committees from 2006 to 2008 on matters related to education policy and adequacy. 

He received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree in international business and economics and his Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas. Prior to joining the University System, Matt was a litigation attorney with the law firm of Hilburn, Calhoon, Harper, Pruniski & Calhoun.

While attending the U of A, McCoy was vice president of the Associated Student Government and president of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He was also named the University of Arkansas' "Outstanding Greek Man" in 1997 and awarded the University of Arkansas Alumni Association's Fred Pickens Rising Senior Leadership Award.

He is married to Summer McCoy, who is also a graduate of the university's School of Law. They have two children, Parker, 9, and Cannon, 6.

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.