Former state Sen. Johnny Key has been named Gov. Asa Hutchinson's pick for the state's new education commissioner.
Hutchinson announced Key at a news conference Monday afternoon at the state Capitol, calling him the "best person for the job."
"No one is more respected in education than Johnny Key," he said.
The state Board of Education must approve Hutchinson's pick and the legislature must also change the requirements for the position, which currently calls for a teaching background.
Key, a Republican from Mountain Home, resigned last year to become the University of Arkansas System's associate vice president for university relations. He had been in the Senate since 2009 and formerly led the Senate Education Committee.
Key said taking the position amounts to "the greatest challenge of my professional career."
"I take it willingly and I take it with excitement because our state has invested too much over its history in education for us not to keep moving forward, to set a high bar of expectations," he said. "And we're going to do that."
Key, who also served in the state House of Representatives from 2003 to 2009, succeeds Tony Wood. Wood was named education commissioner last June after Tom Kimbrell left the post to become Superintendent of the Bryant School District.
See Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full coverage.