FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Kaitlin Gragnano has joined the Dean's Office staff of the U of A's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences as project director for scholarships and external relations.

Gragnano will direct and manage Bumpers College's scholarship program while also providing administrative and special event support for development and external relations.

She previously worked in the U of A Academic Scholarship Office as an administrative specialist where she assisted prospective and current students throughout the scholarship application process, evaluated applications and processed scholarships.

A native of Highland Mills, New York, Gragnano earned her bachelor's degree in organizational communication with a minor in political science in 2011 from James Madison University, and a master's degree in higher education in 2013 from the University of Virginia.

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.