DeBartolo York Foundation Gift Establishes
Hough Endowed Chair in Pathology at UAMS
| LITTLE ROCK – The Marie Denise DeBartolo York Foundation has made a gift of $1.5 million to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) to establish the Aubrey J. Hough Jr., M.D., Endowed Chair in Pathology and the John and Denise DeBartolo York Chief Residency in Pathology.
The chair is named in honor of Aubrey J. Hough, M.D., a distinguished professor in the Department of Pathology who chaired the department for more than 21 years and served two terms as UAMS Medical Center chief of staff. Hough, a Little Rock native, is also associate dean for translational research and special projects in the UAMS College of Medicine and was recently named the College of Medicine Distinguished Faculty Scholar – the highest honor a faculty member at the UAMS College of Medicine can receive.
Bruce Smoller, M.D., current chair of the Department of Pathology in the College of Medicine at UAMS, has been selected as the first holder of the Hough Chair.
“We are very grateful to Dr. and Mrs. York for their support of UAMS and this chair in honor of Dr. Hough, whose contributions have made an enormous impact on our institution and on the practice of medicine,” said UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D. “Their gift will not only help support the work of our faculty in the field of pathology through the Hough chair, but also will help us better prepare the pathologists of tomorrow through the establishment of the York Chief Residency in Pathology.”
Smoller is a professor of pathology and dermatology in the College of Medicine and director of the dermatopathology program. He became chair of the department in January. Smoller is internationally known for his studies of the pathology of cutaneous malignant lymphoma and has held numerous national posts in his specialty.
“The generosity of John and Denise York will make it possible for us to continue our excellent clinical service, award winning residency-training program in pathology and resident-centered research endeavors,” said Smoller. “I am humbled to be the first recipient of this chair and especially since it is named for Aubrey Hough, one of the most brilliant physicians in his field.”
Denise DeBartolo York has received accolades as one of the most successful business women in the United States. She serves as chairman of The DeBartolo Corporation, a professional sports/entertainment and investment business, and oversees the Corporation’s portfolio, including the five-time world champion San Francisco 49ers. John York doubles as President of the DeBartolo Corporation and handles the day-to-day operations of the San Francisco 49ers. A successful entrepreneur with a multi-faceted business and medical background, York practiced Hematopathology through 1996, specializing in the diagnosis of leukemia and lymphomas.
According to York, “Aubrey Hough, my Pathology Professor at the VA Hospital in Nashville, Tenn., and close mentor, was instrumental with my decision to pursue and research the diseases that have such a tragic effect on our society. He’s a brilliant man, and by sharing his knowledge he is helping so many others.”
The UAMS Pathology Department provides residency training in surgical pathology, autopsy pathology, orthopedic pathology, dermatopathology, nephropathology, neuropathology, ultrastructural pathology, immunopathology and molecular biology, cytopathology and fine needle aspiration, laboratory hematology and hematopathology, immunology, blood banking and apheresis, special coagulation, cytogenetics and molecular pathology, pediatric pathology and forensic pathology.
The tradition of establishing endowed chairs at universities is the highest academic honor that can be bestowed upon distinguished faculty of an academic institution and the practice is steeped in history. The first named chair was established in England in 1502, when Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of the Earl of Richmond (by then Henry VII) donated the Lady Margaret Professorship of Divinity to Cambridge.
Today, almost five centuries later, her gift still supports a continuous line of distinguished scholars – the Margaret Professors. English settlers introduced the practice to America. The first endowed chair in America was established at Harvard University 50 years before the American Revolution. That institution now has more than 200 chairs.
A single gift or a group of designated gifts totaling $1 million or more creates an endowed chair at UAMS. The Hough Endowed Chair in Pathology makes 37 endowed chairs at UAMS.
UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center and a statewide network of regional centers. The school has about 2,170 students and 650 residents and is the state’s largest public employer with almost 9,000 employees. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of about $3.8 billion a year.
UAMS Medical Center includes the Arkansas Cancer Research Center, Harvey and Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging, Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy and Jackson T. Stephens Spine and Neurosciences Institute.