UAMS Receives $100,000 Gift for Cardiology Lectureship
| LITTLE ROCK – The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has received a $100,000 gift from Randy McNulty, of Pine Bluff, to establish an endowment for a lectureship in the field of cardiology.
The Joe Knight Bissett, M.D. Lectureship in Cardiovascular Disease is in honor of Joe Knight Bissett, M.D., and in memory of his father, James Robert Bissett, who was a well-respected College of Engineering professor at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
Joe Bissett, a professor of internal medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine, has been recognized repeatedly in “America’s Best Doctors” and in “Best Doctors” in Arkansas. James Robert Bissett was a close friend and mentor of McNulty.
“Joe and I were good friends and fraternity brothers in college, and I came to know his father after taking one of his civil engineering classes,” McNulty said. “I grew to admire him and everything he stood for, and those wonderful traits were passed on to his son. Because of that admiration, I’ve wanted to do something for the Bissett family for a long time.”
McNulty’s father, uncle and three of his four brothers have had heart attacks at young ages, so the importance of spreading cardiovascular medicine to students and the public runs deep. McNulty was also treated for a skin cancer at UAMS by Kent Westbrook, M.D., a distinguished professor of surgery in the UAMS College of Medicine.
“I’ve seen firsthand the quality of health care being delivered at UAMS, which is a big reason I’m still around,” he said. “I believe in UAMS and the work they do for the people of Arkansas.”
David Rutlen, M.D., a professor and director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine in the College of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine, said the gift will honor McNulty’s wishes to spread cardiovascular knowledge.
“This gift will go a long way in helping us expand our education efforts in the field of cardiology,” Rutlen said. “We are extremely thankful for this generous gift and look to honor Mr. McNulty, Dr. Bissett and his father through this lectureship.”
The annual lectureship will feature medical experts in the field of cardiology and cardiovascular disease. This lectureship will be the first to honor a faculty member in the Division of Cardiology.
UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Related Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a 540,000-square-foot hospital; a statewide network of regional centers; and six institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 2,836 students and 761 medical residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com.