The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture has named a new director for its Cooperative Extension Service.
Bob Scott will be taking over the role, in which he will oversee the education outreach aspects of the Division of Agriculture’s mission. He will be succeeding Rick Cartwright, who is slated to retire on June 30.
Cartwright announced his intention to retire in August 2019 as director and senior associate vice president for agriculture-extension. He has served as director since August 2017 and had been serving as interim associate vice president for agriculture-extension since September 2016. However, he joined the Division of Agriculture in 1992, holding roles in the Cooperative Extension Service and the Agricultural Experiment Station sectors.
Scott is a longtime veteran of the Cooperative Extension Service, having joined in 2002 as an extension weed scientist before being named director of the Newport and Lonoke Extension Centers in 2013. He became the director of the Rice Research and Extension Center near Stuttgart in 2018.
“We are extremely pleased that we were able to attract a candidate of Dr. Scott’s caliber to this important position. Dr. Scott brings a strong understanding of Arkansas agriculture and his long connection to the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service will be a great asset as he assumes this role,” Mark Cochran, vice president-agriculture for the University of Arkansas System, said in a statement.
Scott said that he plans to grow the extension service as its director.
“I am coming into this position with the objective of seeing the Cooperative Extension Service grow and advance,” Scott said. “We need to keep pace with a rapidly changing society, advances in technology and lead by example in social issues which also divide some parts of our society today. I look forward to these challenges and see only opportunities for us as we go forward.
An Oklahoma native, Scott holds a doctorate in weed science from Mississippi State University as well as a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and a master’s degree in weed science, both from Oklahoma State University.
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