Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences
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Nolan Arthur, First AEED Head, Retires
Dr. Nolan Arthur, associate professor of agricultural and extension education, retired July 31, completing 31 years of service in Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. Arthur taught high school agriculture for five years and also taught agriculture at Murray State College in Oklahoma for three years. He then earned an Ed.D. at Oklahoma State University before joining the faculty at the University of Arkansas in July 1975 as the first assistant dean (later, associate dean) for Bumpers College, know then as the College of Agriculture and Home Economics. In 1984, Arthur oversaw the move of the vocational agriculture program from the College of Education into Bumpers College. It became the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, and Arthur served as the first department head. While department head, Arthur served a year as acting director of admissions for the University in 1986-87. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Arthur coordinates undergraduate recruiting and advising for the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, and he coordinates the general agriculture master’s program for the college. He also judges livestock shows. Arthur said his background in high school agriculture has been a tremendous advantage for both recruiting students to the program and for preparing them for successful careers. “It gave me a real thorough understanding what high school ag teachers’ roles are, and what their needs are,” Arthur said. From that foundation, he said, “We endeavor to expose our students to as many skills and experiences as we can to help them be successful in their careers. We also show the care and concern in them that they should show their students when they get to the classroom.” Arthur said there have been a lot of changes in both agriculture and the classroom since he came to the U of A more than 30 years ago. Besides the traditional careers in high schools and the Cooperative Extension Service, graduates take such jobs as sales personnel and field representatives for agriculture-related industries. “We’re more cognitive of the science base of agriculture and have done more to tie the science to the teaching,” Arthur said. “We’ve shifted from what was totally production agriculture to include marketing, engineering, sales and technical service.” After retirement, Arthur said he plans to divide his time between his home in Fayetteville and his family farm at Perkins, south of Stillwater, Okla. “I plan to spend a lot of time on the family place, building up the farm,” he said. |
