Dr. Victor L. Ford
Victor Ford currently serves as Associate Vice President - Agriculture and Natural Resources where he coordinates statewide extension programs with Unit Heads and District Directors.
Dr. Ford is a northeast Tennessee native and earned a Bachelor of Science in Forest Management and Master of Science from the University of Tennessee and a Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry and Forest Products from Virginia Tech. He has studied forest soils, productivity, weed control, and mycology for 35 years. He spent five years as an Extension Forester for the University of Arkansas at the Southwest Research and Extension. Dr. Ford worked the next 20 years for Westvaco and later MeadWestvaco in Kentucky, West Virginia, Alabama, and Texas as a Scientist, Research Center Leader, and Project Leader. In 2008, he became Director and Professor of the University of Arkansas Southwest Research and Extension Center. He was later asked to serve as Interim Associate Director from 2016-2019 and was named Associate Director in 2019 and Associate Vice President in 2020. Dr. Ford has over 80 publications and presentations and is a wetlands consultant. Vic has been a member of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) since 1982. He was awarded Forestry Educator of the Year for the Ouachita Society of American Foresters in 2013 and named Fellow of the Society of American Foresters in 2014. He has held numerous positions in various state societies, served as Secretary, Vice-President, and President of the Silviculture Working Group. He served on the Ethics Committee and was chair for two years. He was co-chair of the Certification Review Board. Besides SAF, Vic belongs to the Soil Science Society of America.
Dr. Ford and his wife, Cindy, live in Hope and share five children and six grandchildren. He loves music, sports, fly-fishing, hunting, computers, ham radio, and traveling.