New chief of school facilities unit picked

— Charles Stein will become the director of the Arkansas Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation next week, after serving as the division’s assistant director since August 2005.

Stein replaces Doug Eaton, who is retiring. Eaton has headed the state agency since December 2005 after serving for several years as director of facility services in the Little Rock School District.

The three-member Commission for Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation selected Stein for the job at a special meeting Thursday.

“We feel like Dr. Stein has the experience, knowledge and relationships with people in the school districts to take the division to the next level,” said Arkansas Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell, who also serves as chairman of the facilities commission.

The other commissioners are Richard Weiss, director of the state Department of Finance and Administration, and Mac Dodson, president of the Arkansas Development Finance Authority.

“We saw no point in delaying when we had the right person who could make that happen immediately,” Kimbrell said.

Stein previously worked for 34 years with the U.S. Corps of Engineers, Little Rock District, serving as deputy chief of both the operations division and the engineering and construction division.

He has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, a master’s degree in water-resources planning from Colorado State University and a doctorate in engineering management from Southern Methodist University.

Arkansas, Pages 12 on 07/30/2010

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