Nathan McKinney Retires as Assistant Director of Experiment Station

RETIRED — Nathan McKinney retired from the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station at the end of March 2024.

Nathan McKinney is known across the state of Arkansas as someone who has been committed to improving the lives of people through advances in agriculture.

In addition to serving as associate vice president of agriculture and assistant director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station since August 2012, McKinney served as interim director of the Rice Research and Extension Center in Stuttgart from 2016 to 2018 and interim director of the Southwest Research and Extension Center in Hope from 2019 to 2021.

McKinney retired at the end of March 2024 after 16 years with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, having started in 2008 organizing a growing list of patents in what would become the Technology Commercialization Office. The experiment station is the research arm of the Division of Agriculture.

“I don’t think anyone would question Nathan’s commitment to the Division of Agriculture, or his care for people and the land-grant mission,” said Deacue Fields, head of the Division of Agriculture. “You know where his heart is. Nathan has a big heart for people, and that is shown in how people see him across the state.”

Jean-François Meullenet, senior associate vice president for agriculture-research and director of the experiment station, pointed to McKinney’s many achievements, including making the Division of Agriculture more competitive for federal funding and helping establish the TREAT program, an orientation for new faculty members. The program offers resources to help new faculty set up their lab, write grant proposals and other necessary support to conduct innovative research and make pioneering discoveries with the experiment station.

“Nathan has been a great member of our team and has been a champion for many of our staff members across the state,” Meullenet said.

Among the many friends, family and colleagues who attended McKinney’s retirement celebration on March 29 at the Pauline Whitaker Animal Science Center was Mark Cochran, the former head of the Division of Agriculture who hired McKinney in 2008.

“People matter the most, and Nathan really is someone who has that personal touch,” Cochran said. “The job, at times, is not the easiest, but Nathan made it look easy.”

McKinney said he was grateful for his time working with the Division of Agriculture.

Nathan McKinney, right, shares a few remarks during his retirement celebration on March 29, 2024. Family, friends and colleagues gathered at the Pauline Whitaker Animal Science Center to celebrate McKinney, former assistant director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station.

For more photos from the event, check out our photo album.