ARA

Fields joins Arkansas Research Alliance Board

By the U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — Deacue Fields, head of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, is joining the board of an organization whose fundamental principle is “research matters.”

Fields, vice president-agriculture, for the University of Arkansas System, heads an organization that conducts land-grant research and outreach for the state of Arkansas. He joins the trustees of the Arkansas Research Alliance, whose board is comprised of Arkansas business leaders and the chancellor from each of the state’s five major research universities.

Deacue Fields, VP-agriculture for the U of Arkansas System, talks about the Division of Agriculture he heads, in a presentation in 2023. Fields has been named to a board that values research. (U of A System Division of Agriculture image)

“Deacue brings extraordinary vision to the ARA Board of Trustees,” said Bryan Barnhouse, President and CEO of ARA. “Agriculture serves as a major cornerstone for Arkansas’ research platform, and to have his insight on the Board is immeasurably valuable moving forward.”

Arkansas is the state’s largest industry, valued at about $21 billion.

Public investment in agricultural research has declined over the last decade, yet the pressures on our food system have increased.

Fields said that “agricultural research and extension investments result in $10 to $20 in benefits for every $1 spent.”

China has increased its spending on agricultural research fivefold since 2000 and invests twice as much as the United States does.

“We must increase our investment to remain a global leader and make the technological advances necessary to meet the challenge of feeding the growing global population,” Fields said. “ARA has made great efforts to raise the profile of research being conducted in Arkansas and I look forward to contributing to ARA’s work knowing its motto is ‘research matters’.”

The Division of Agriculture is well-positioned for this work. Its research arm, the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station this year has set a new record in research expenditures at $84 million.

Fields 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 Louisiana State University in 2002, all in agricultural economics. In his spare time, Dr. Fields enjoys traveling with family, sports, fishing, and showing livestock. He is married to Dana Fields, and they have three sons, Caleb, Cade, and Collin.

Founded in 2008, Arkansas Research Alliance is dedicated to elevating a fundamental belief: Research Matters. This strategic focus helps ensure that Arkansas’ entrepreneurial strength is bolstered by the recruitment and retention of top research talent in areas that are commercially viable in the state.

The ARA Board of Trustees is comprised of 25 leaders from Arkansas’ business and academic communities:

  • Chair — Ritter Arnold, executive VP external affairs, E. Ritter & Company

  • Christina Drale, chancellor, UA Little Rock

  • Deacue Fields, VP for Agriculture of the University of Arkansas System

  • Cam Patterson, chancellor, UAMS

  • Charles Robinson, chancellor, University of Arkansas

  • Todd Shields, chancellor, Arkansas State University

  • Chris Barber, President & CEO St. Bernard’s Healthcare

  • Curtis Barnett, CEO, Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield

  • Daniel Brown, COO, Big River Steel

  • Daryl Brown, executive director, MISO

  • Marty Casteel, president and CEO (RT), Simmons Bank

  • Chris Hart, president and CEO, Central Moloney INC

  • Sonja Yates Hubbard, principal, The Yates Group

  • Jerry Jones, EVP, LiveRamp

  • Laura R. Landreaux, president and CEO, Entergy Arkansas, Inc.

  • Judy McReynolds, president and CEO, ArcBest

  • Charles Nabholz, chairman emeritus, The Nabholz Group

  • David Peacock, president, Hytrol Conveyor Co.

  • Mike Ross, senior vice president and officer, Southwest Power Pool

  • Reynie Rutledge, president, First Security Bank

  • Andreas Shoppach, vice president, Global Governance, Walmart

  • Michael Verdesca, CIO, Murphy USA Inc.

  • Mary Ward, chief people officer, Acxiom

  • Dan Williams, retired CEO, Garver

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. 

Arkansas Research Alliance Selects UAMS Researchers as Scholar, Fellow

By Benjamin Waldrum

The Arkansas Research Alliance (ARA) recently announced that two researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will be joining their ranks.

John Imig, Ph.D., an accomplished scientist focused on cardiovascular, metabolic and kidney diseases, was named an ARA Scholar, and Antiño Allen, Ph.D., a researcher known for his insight into the effects of radiation on brain function, was honored as an ARA Fellow.

Imig will receive $500,000, and Allen will receive $75,000 to further their research.

https://news.uams.edu/2023/05/12/arkansas-research-alliance-selects-uams-researchers-as-scholar-fellow/

Arkansas Research Alliance leadership change announced, founder stepping down

by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

Jerry Adams, founder and president of the Arkansas Research Alliance (ARA), is retiring Dec. 31, 2021, with ARA CEO Bryan Barnhouse to also be the president beginning Jan. 1, the group announced Friday (Nov. 19).

Adams founded ARA in 2008 on the principle that “research matters” and it is central to the state’s competitiveness in the knowledge economy. The non-profit economic development organization evolved from the visioning of Accelerate Arkansas. Specifically, ARA invests in the recruitment, recognition, and retention of strategic research talent at the five major research universities, which represent over 90% of the federal research dollars that flow into the state. ARA focuses these leaders to accelerate their impact on the economic future of the state and the nation.

Adams established ARA as a public private partnership, with 20 private sector chief executives and chancellors of the state’s five major research universities (University of Arkansas, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Arkansas State University, UA Little Rock, and University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) sitting on the board of trustees. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration National Center for Toxicological Research based in Pine Bluff acts a sixth partner.

https://talkbusiness.net/2021/11/arkansas-research-alliance-leadership-change-announced-founder-stepping-down/