FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Johnny Key, commissioner of the Arkansas Department of Education, will give a lecture titled "Arkansas Vision for Excellence in Education" at noon Friday, Oct. 7, on the University of Arkansas campus.

The lecture is part of the Department of Education Reform lecture series. RSVP online for lunch on the lecture website. Deadline to RSVP is 1 p.m. the Wednesday before the lecture. It will take place in Room 309 of the Graduate Education Building.

Key was appointed to the position in 2015.

Prior to being named commissioner, Key served as associate vice president for university relations at the University of Arkansas System, a position he held since August 2014.

Key began his career in public service in 1997 when he was elected to serve as a justice of the peace on the Baxter County Quorum Court. He was elected to three two-year terms in the House of Representatives, followed by a tenure in the Senate that began in 2008.

While in the Senate, Key served as chair of multiple committees: the Senate Education Committee, Arkansas Legislative Council Administrative Rules and Regulations Committee, Joint Retirement and Social Security Committee, and Arkansas Lottery Commission Legislative Oversight Committee. He served as vice chair of the Joint Budget Committee, Arkansas Legislative Council Policy Making Committee, Academic Facilities Oversight Committee, and Joint Committee on Public Retirement and Social Security Programs.

Key graduated from Gurdon High School and received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering in 1991 from the University of Arkansas.