PINE BLUFF, AR - The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB), a HBCU located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas has named Dr. Edmund R. Buckner (pictured on the right) as new interim dean/director of the School of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Human Science effective July 1. This appointment comes after former director and chairwoman Dr. Carole Engle retired from the university on June 30th. Dr. Buckner will be responsible for the academic, research, Extension and international programs of the school and the management of its resources, including faculty and staff, physical facilities and budget.

Dr. Buckner was appointed as an assistant professor of fisheries in 2001 and currently holds the rank of professor with working assignments in all three areas of the land grant trilogy of teaching, research and Extension. During his tenure at the University, Dr. Buckner has secured more then $3.8 million in external grant funding.

Dr. Buckner is a native of Dermott, Arkansas and holds a B.S. degree in agriculture (fisheries biology emphasis) from UAPB, a M.S. degree in natural resources management from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point and a Ph.D. in natural resources policy and law from Purdue University. Dr. Buckner completed the USDA LEAD21 Program, which is intended to help develop leadership within land grant universities. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Management Development Program, which offers training to academic deans, associate deans, directors and department heads in higher education. The Harvard program provides tools and insight to help administrators think more strategically, balance competing demands and spend time providing forward-thinking leadership.

Prior to working with the University, Dr. Buckner worked with the United States Fish and Wildfire Service as a Biologist and on Capitol Hill as a Congressional Task Force Coordinator where he was the lead writer in drafting the Upper Mississippi River Conservation Act (106th Congress, H.R. 1013).