UAMS Names Jay Gandy Associate Provost For Northwest Regional Campus
| LITTLE ROCK – The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has named Jay Gandy, Ph.D., as associate provost at the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus effective Aug. 1.
As associate provost, Gandy will be responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership to all academic programs in Northwest Arkansas. Gandy is currently the interim dean of the UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, where he has served since Dec. 31, 2018.
A longtime researcher, educator and administrator, Gandy joined UAMS in 1985, first in the department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the College of Medicine, and for the past 18 years as a professor and chair of the Environmental and Occupational Health Department in the College of Public Health.
He has also served the UAMS Graduate School as director of the Occupational and Environmental Health Master of Science Program (1996-2012) and since 2010 as director of the Regulatory Sciences Program.
From 1997-2010, Gandy was a founding partner in the firm, CTEH L.L.C., a company dedicated to addressing all aspects of response to emergencies, chemical exposures and human health. The company was incorporated under BioVentures, a technology transfer office and business incubator, and now has 160 employees with offices in 11 cities. He retired from his private sector company in 2010 and returned to academia full time.
“Jay has proven himself a dedicated leader in the College of Public Health, and I am certain he will continue to excel and accomplish great things as associate provost for our Northwest Regional Campus,” said Stephanie Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D., UAMS provost and chief strategy officer.
Gandy completed his undergraduate training in entomology at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1976. In 1982 he received a master’s degree studying neurotoxicology from the University of California, Davis, and in 1985 he earned a doctoral degree in toxicology from the University of California, Riverside. His research interests include pesticide toxicology and reproductive toxicology. He has served on numerous EPA expert panels and review panels and is a past Science Advisory Board member to the FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research.
“I am a native Arkansan and have spent 34 years with UAMS and care deeply for UAMS and for the state of Arkansas,” Gandy said. “I am honored to be selected as associate provost at the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus. This is the fastest-growing region in the state, and I am energized by the opportunities that UAMS has to grow right along with the population.”
Gandy will report to the vice chancellor of the Northwest Regional Campus, Pearl McElfish, Ph.D., and will be responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership to all academic programs in Northwest Arkansas, working closely with the deans, associate deans and program directors on that campus. He will also work to expand research activities on the Northwest Regional Campus and provide leadership to ensure UAMS achieves its educational and research objectives.
“I am thrilled that Dr. Gandy will be joining us as provost on the Northwest Regional Campus,” McElfish said. “He has done an exemplary job as a leader in the College of Public Health, and I know he will do an equally wonderful job in advancing our overall UAMS mission in this region.”
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; statewide network of regional campuses; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute and Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 2,727 students, 870 medical residents and five 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, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health.
The UAMS Northwest Regional Campus includes 307 medical, pharmacy, nursing and health professions students, 60 medical and pharmacy residents, and 1,000 community-based faculty. The campus has nine clinics providing advanced health care. Faculty conduct research to improve community health. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.