UAMS Names Burchett Vice Chancellor for Development and Alumni Affairs
| LITTLE ROCK – Lance Burchett, who has 20 years of successful work in fundraising and alumni affairs, has been named the vice chancellor for development and alumni affairs at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).
Burchett will lead the UAMS Office of Development and Alumni Affairs, having overall responsibility for directing and coordinating all fundraising and development programs for the state’s only academic health center. In addition, he will serve as primary liaison to the 35-member UAMS Foundation Fund Board, which helps set development priorities and aids in fundraising campaigns, and to the University of Arkansas Foundation Inc., the non-profit corporation that secures financial support for higher education in the state.
“Lance has longstanding ties to Arkansas — growing up here, attending college and marrying an Arkansas native — so his love for the state combined with a track record of success will help us in securing the resources we need to support our academic, research and patient care programs,” said UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D.
Burchett, who started at UAMS on Oct. 27, had been serving since 2004 as vice president for advancement at Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Fla. While leading development efforts at the college well known in the field of digital arts, the institution saw a nine-fold increase in its fundraising.
Previously, he was vice president for advancement at Northwest Missouri State University. Before that he led the alumni association at San Diego State University as executive director following a seven-year stint as associate executive director of the alumni association at the University of Arkansas.
Burchett earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communication from the University of Arkansas in 1983 and 1984 respectively. While there, he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society, the Golden Key National Honor Society and was a walk-on quarterback for the Arkansas Razorbacks under then-coach Lou Holtz.
As a member for more than 20 years of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, Burchett has been recognized multiple times for his work. His advancement teams were two-time recipients of the organization’s Circle of Excellence Grand Gold Awards.
His community service includes service as a president of Rotary Clubs in three different states. He has received Rotary International’s Presidential Citation Award and selected as a Paul Harris Fellow in the organization.
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 hospital; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven 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, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. Named best Little Rock metropolitan area hospital by U.S. News & World Report, it is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has more than 2,800 students and 775 medical residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including about 1,000 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.