By Mary Hightower
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — Nga Mahfouz is bringing more than 25 years of public and private sector experience as she joins the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture as its general counsel.

Mahfouz, of Hot Springs, earned her juris doctorate at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law after earning a B.S. in accounting from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.

Portrait of Nga Mahfouz, general counsel for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo by Kerry Rodtnick)

Before joining the division, Mahfouz served in the Arkansas attorney general’s office as senior assistant attorney general for the agencies division and assistant attorney general for the civil litigation division. Some of her work with the attorney general’s office was with two-year colleges.

Her private sector experience includes serving as a chief legal officer for RP Holdings Group and as an associate with Provost Umphrey. Mahfouz also served as staff attorney for the City of Bryant and staff litigator for the Arkansas Municipal League.

Mahfouz’s move to the Division of Agriculture seemed like a natural transition.

“I represented two-year colleges for eight of the 10 years I worked at the Arkansas attorney general's office,” she said. “Moving to a university job seemed like an excellent way to professionally develop the skills I had acquired as a legal adviser to institutions of higher education.

“My knowledge of the substantive laws relevant to higher education, my previous experience advising colleges, and my commitment to regularly training clients will serve me well as I begin my new role,” Mahfouz said.

Deacue Fields, head of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said that “We are fortunate to have someone with Nga’s depth of experience working for our team. With her background in both the public and private sectors and for entities dealing with domestic and international affairs, she’s a good match for the work we do.”

Mahfouz said she was looking “forward to being part of a team that has such a large presence in every county in the state. There will be tremendous opportunities to forge new relationships and offer training.”

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter 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 us on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.