University of Arkansas System President Donald R. Bobbitt has announced that he will recommend Deacue Fields, Ph.D., currently dean of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, as the next vice president for agriculture for the U of A System.

Pending formal approval from the Board of Trustees of the U of A in May, Fields is expected to take over the position this July. 

“I’m grateful for this opportunity to continue strengthening the impact of the Division of Agriculture as we embrace the land-grant mission of serving our state,” Fields said. “Going through this process has reinvigorated my passion for agriculture and shed light on numerous opportunities for the division to cultivate partnerships and collaborate during this next chapter. I want to thank Dr. Bobbitt and everyone else involved for entrusting me with the responsibility of leading the division and continuing to shape its imprint on the people of Arkansas. I can’t wait to continue working with the talented professionals that make up the UADA team to craft a vision for the future.”

Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Terry Martin will work with Bumpers College faculty and staff, and the Division of Agriculuture to select an interim dean and announce next steps by early June. 

“Deacue has a been a great dean for Bumpers College, and I’m grateful that he’ll continue to play an important role in the state within the University of Arkansas System,” Martin said. “I look forward to working with him in his new role.”

Fields was appointed Bumpers College dean in 2017. He came to Arkansas after serving as professor and chair of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at Auburn University since August 2013. He joined the faculty at Auburn in 2002 and was promoted to associate professor in 2007, an appointment that also included extension duties. He has also worked as an assistant professor and director of small farm outreach at Florida A&M University and as a graduate research fellow in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness at Louisiana State University.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1993, his master’s degree from the University of Missouri in 1995 and his doctorate from LSU in 2002, all in agricultural economics.

To view the full announcement from the U of A System, please visit the system website.