FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Event planner Amy Bates, president of Bates Events in Fayetteville, has been named executive in residence of the human nutrition and hospitality innovation program in the University of Arkansas' Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

Bates Events offers professional event management services for corporate events, professional corporate meetings, nonprofit events, galas and fundraisers, conventions and conferences, and full-scale wedding coordination.

"The hospitality innovation program is thrilled to welcome Amy as executive in residence for the fall 2016 semester," said Kelly Way, associate professor and assistant director of the human nutrition and hospitality innovation program. "We've worked on events with Amy and her staff in the past, so having her in the classroom was a natural fit for our students."

Bates will be co-teaching the "Meetings and Events" course with hospitality instructor Dede Hamm, as well as giving students opportunities to gain experience through several events.

Bates, who earned her bachelor's degree in marketing from Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and moved to Northwest Arkansas in 2002, has a history with hospitality innovation students from the Bumpers College's School of Human Environmental Sciences.

Way and Bates created an ambassador program, allowing students to work fundraisers, weddings, corporate gatherings and other events.

"Having worked with the University of Arkansas hospitality program for the past five years, whether it be in mentoring students or through their involvement in our ambassador program, I believe there is a true lack of real-world experience each student needs to understand and achieve. In accepting this position as executive in residence, I will invest my time and energy in our future invaluable industry leaders."

Students have worked with Bates and her staff in coordinating the Big Night gala, the annual fundraiser for The Jones Center. In addition to around 12 ambassadors each semester, another 100 hospitality innovation students worked the Big Night event, and helped plate and serve more than 400 guests.

"Amy brings with her years of experience, real-life events and leadership," said Way. "This is just what our students need in the 'Meetings and Events' course. Her enthusiasm is infectious, and her love of the events industry and life in general is the example of an executive we want to put in front of our students."

Last year, the hospitality innovation program utilized co-executives in residence — U of A Chartwells district manager Andrew Lipson and Tyson Foods Inc. corporate chef Mario Valdovinos.

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.