Picture a former Choctaw Route Station railroad depot, built in 1899, now home to the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service on these grounds. This branch of the University of Arkansas system is the newest of the presidential schools and is housed in the Choctaw Route Station, a former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad station built in 1899. Its civic mission shows in its Master of Public Service, a two-year graduate program with a 'real world' curriculum designed to educate and prepare individuals for public service, incorporating a strategic vision.
The school's leadership history is visible in its names and dates: Former Senator and Governor David Pryor was named the school's first dean; he stepped down in February 2006 but retained the title and active position of Founding Dean. Skip Rutherford succeeded him, named dean on April 12, 2006, and served until June 30, 2021. University of Arkansas System President Dr. Donald R. Bobbitt announced his recommendation of Dr. Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto as the school's next dean on September 7, 2021.
Stand here and imagine the layers of public service training and presidential history gathered in this restored 1899 station. Three deans' names, Pryor, Rutherford and DeFrancesco Soto, trace the school's story inside this restored 1899 railroad station.