Judy Grundfest Named Lifetime Member of UAMS Reynolds Institute on Aging Community Advisory Board

April 9, 2018 | April 9, 2018 | Judy Grundfest recently was made a lifetime member of the UAMS Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging Community Advisory Board by the board’s executive committee.

A member of the board is eligible for lifetime status after serving with distinction, said Larry Alman, board chair. They retain all the rights and privileges of regular board members. Grundfest is the fifth member of the board to be honored as a lifetime member. The other four are Sissy Clinton, Jo Ellen Ford, Martha Murphy and Judy Snowden.

“We are deeply grateful to Judy for all the encouragement and wisdom that she has given to so many,” said Jeanne Wei, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Reynolds Institute. “She is a remarkably resilient and amazing role model for all of us”

Grundfest was an active volunteer in the early years of the institute’s 20-year history, especially in the effort to raise funds to build the Reynolds Institute’s building on the UAMS main campus. She worked diligently with other board members on a campaign that raised a total of $24 million in two fund-raising campaigns. The result is the eight-story building that houses clinics, research and administrative offices.

She was the second person to lead the Community Advisory Board as its chair from 2001-2002, and has been a board member for a total of more than 12 years.

In 2005, Grundfest was awarded the Jo Ellen Ford Distinguished Service Award by the Advisory Board. The board noted at the time her important contributions and volunteer work in establishing the Ottenheimer Therapy and Fitness Center at the Reynolds Institute. She also serves as chair of the Ottenheimer Brothers Foundation.

“She has served with great dignity, enthusiasm and is widely admired, not only for her work ethic and the volunteer hours she puts in, but also for her generosity,” Alman said. “Judy is someone who is dependable, sincere and always follows through. She is very deserving of a lifetime membership.”

The Reynolds Institute on Aging Advisory Board members serve as ambassadors to support and publicize the Reynold’s Institute on Aging’s mission, which includes eight Centers on Aging located throughout the state where the needs of an aging generation are met with the highest standards of service, research and care.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; hospital; northwest Arkansas regional campus; statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Myeloma Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and Translational Research Institute. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 2,834 students, 822 medical residents and six dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses throughout the state, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.