LITTLE ROCK – Governor Asa Hutchinson has appointed Colonel (U.S. Army, Retired) Nathaniel “Nate” Todd, Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs, to the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees.
Colonel Todd is a 37-year veteran of the Army and Army Reserve, where his roles included Director of Health Financial Policy for the U.S Army Surgeon General and Chief Financial Officer for Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.
Colonel Todd is replacing Dr. Stephen Broughton, whose 10-year term expired in March. Colonel Todd’s term will expire in March 2032.
“Nate Todd has devoted his entire life to the service of the United States, starting at Pine Bluff High School where he was a member of the Junior Air Force ROTC,” Governor Hutchinson said. “His appointment as a University of Arkansas trustee is a natural extension of his career of caring for his state and nation. Colonel Todd is a quiet man whose compassion and faith drives all that he does. I am grateful he has agreed to serve. His wisdom and kindness are critical at this time in the history of the University of Arkansas.”
Colonel Todd was chief financial officer of the Central Arkansas Veterans Health Care System in February 2017 when Governor Hutchinson appointed him as director of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs. In 2019, Governor Hutchinson appointed Colonel Todd as the first Cabinet Secretary Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs after the General Assembly passed the Governor’s government transformation initiative.
“I give glory to God for His limitless blessings,” Colonel Todd said. “I am honored and deeply grateful to Governor Hutchinson for his confidence in me, thankful for the unending support from my family, and appreciative of the Pine Bluff community and its educators who inspired me to be a life-long learner. I am eager to serve with the other trustees and to learn from them and Dr. Bobbitt, as we build on the work of those who came before us. I am humbled for the opportunity to share my life experiences and to join other leaders as we serve the University of Arkansas System to continue its journey toward even greater heights in support of Arkansas students and faculty.”
He earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology from the University of Houston, Houston Texas; a Master of Science in Health Care Administration from Baylor University; and a Chief Financial Officer Leadership Certification from the National Defense University, Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of the Chief Financial Officer Leadership Program of the National Defense University in Washington D.C., a National Security Management Fellow from Syracuse University, and a graduate of the Executive Medical Leadership Course at George Washington University in Washington
Colonel Todd’s military assignments have taken him to Fort Bliss and William Belmont Medical Center in El Paso, Texas; Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Falls Church, Virginia; Bethesda, Maryland; and internationally to Seoul, South Korea, and Bremerhaven, Germany.
Colonel Todd served as Parish Council Lay Leader in several Military Faith Communities, Chair of the Trustee Board, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Lawton-Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and studied stewardship at the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. He is also a member of First Missionary Baptist Church in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.