Pope, Allen, Malone Receive 2026 Bumpers College Alumni Awards

Randall Pope and Brittany Allen have been named 2026 outstanding alumni for the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the U of A, and Darrin Malone is recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Service Award.

Pope is the Outstanding Alumnus and Allen is the Bumpers College Alumni Society Outstanding Young Alumna.

They will be honored on campus as part of Homecoming weekend on Oct. 30 during a luncheon at Carnall Hall.  

Randall Pope

Pope was raised on his family's farm in northeast Arkansas. Following two years of military service, he earned his bachelor's degree in agricultural business from Arkansas State University in 1975 and his master's degree in agricultural economics from the U of A in 1977.

He joined the Real Estate Investment Department of The Prudential Insurance Company of America in 1977. Over 13 years, he held functional and administrative assignments in Little Rock,; Washington, North Carolina; Orlando, Florida; Newark, New Jersey; and Sacramento, California. Responsibilities included establishment of The Prudential Agricultural Credit Corporation as well as managing more than $4 billion of agriculture-related property acquisitions, mortgage loan originations, loan sales, property sales and property management in the 11 western states.

In 1990, he was appointed senior vice president of The Prudential and assumed responsibility for its $36 billion agricultural debt and equity investment portfolio. In 1994 he became managing director and senior portfolio manager for all The Prudential's agricultural and commercial real estate debt and equity investments, a portfolio of more than $35 billion.

In 1995, Pope became a principal and partner in The Westchester Group, a $250 million national agricultural asset and investment management company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois, where he assumed roles of president and chief operating officer of the company. He was responsible for day-to-day management of the company, asset and business strategy, asset performance monitoring and reporting, research, underwriting new investments and all agricultural investment activity. In 2007, he started Westchester's first international agricultural investment initiative in Australia. In 2008, he started Westchester's business in Brazil, followed by establishing businesses in Chile, New Zealand, Poland, Romania and the UK.

In 2010, TIAA-CREF acquired a majority interest in Westchester, and Pope became president and chief executive officer of the company responsible for business and investment operations. At the time of his retirement in 2018, Westchester had become the global leader in agricultural asset management and had grown to over $8 billion of assets under management with a staff of 126 people in 17 offices around the globe.

Pope is a distinguished alumnus of A-State; former president of the Dean's Advisory Cabinet for the College of Agriculture at A-State; former board member, vice chairman and chairman of the Arkansas State University Foundation; former member of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers; former member of the AgriFinance Magazine editorial advisory board; a founding director of partners for Agricultural Literacy; a frequent speaker at national and international pension fund and agricultural conferences; and a past member of the National Agricultural Credit Committee. He has been a frequent group leader at the Harvard Executive Agribusiness seminar and visiting professor at several agricultural colleges.

Pope, his wife, Jeanette, and their children and most of their grandchildren reside in Jonesboro.

Brittany Allen

Allen graduated from the U of A in 2011 with a degree in apparel studies (now apparel merchandising and product development). She later earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2013, combining her creative talents with an entrepreneurial mindset.

From Fort Smith, she began her career as lead designer at a company owning four footwear brands. She has also worked with fashion designer Betsey Johnson in fashion domestic production and as lead footwear designer for a celebrity-owned lifestyle brand.

Allen, who is from Fort Smith and has emceed AMPD's annual Enclothe fashion show, created her own brand, Brittany Nicole, which was rebranded Brittany Allen, a namesake clothing brand. She has also taught fashion design at an institution in Austin, Texas, where she lives.

Her designs have been featured in Women's Wear Daily and worn by celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Jon Bon Jovi. They have been showcased at Austin Fashion Week 2017-2023, 2017 Houston Fashion Week,and September 2019 Style Fashion Week, along with WWD and Footwear News.

In 2019-20, she was one of 16 designers selected to compete on Season 18 of Project Runway broadcast by Bravo TV. She advanced several weeks in the competition before being eliminated just before the season finale, finishing fifth.

She returned to the program in Season 20 (2023) alongside other veteran designers for the All-Stars season, finishing as the runner-up.

Darrin Malone

Malone, who earned his bachelor's degree in soil science and agronomy in 1988 and his master's degree in weed science and agronomy in 1990, is the regional business manager, Southern Region, for Amvac Chemical Corporation, specializing in crop protection and green solutions.

Throughout his career, Malone has excelled in sales, product management and technical agronomy, demonstrating his expertise for industry giants such as Corteva Agriscience and Dupont. In 2016, he received the Dupont Pioneer Southern Region Hitchpin Award, celebrating his teamwork and leadership skills within the organization.

He joined the Arkansas Alumni Association National Board of Directors in July 2024, serves on the board's nominating committee and is a lifetime member.

In addition to his professional success, Malone is characterized by his service and generosity to the U of A. He was instrumental in creating the Delta Classic Scholarship Golf Classic, now the Barrentine Delta Scholarship Golf Classic, which has raised more than $550,000 and funded over 240 scholarships since 2001. Malone is an annual contributor to the tournament and served as the tournament director through 2025.

Malone is a member and former Bumpers College Alumni Society board president. In 2018, the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences honored him as its Outstanding Alumnus. As a U of A student, Malone served as Agronomy Club president and was recognized as the department's outstanding senior.

Malone lives in Paragould with his wife, Kelly. Their twins, Shea and Jas, B.S.'24 and B.S. '24, M.S. '26, respectively, are recent U of A graduates.

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. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $3 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.