Tara Peña Joins UAMS Institutional Advancement as Director of Alumni and Annual Giving

By Benjamin Waldrum

Peña earned a bachelor’s of business administration, marketing and management at Texas Tech University and held a number of different advancement roles there, including coordinator of advancement services, coordinator in the Office of Student Affairs for the School of Nursing, and lead analyst for stewardship and endowment compliance.

Most recently, she was the associate director with the School of Accounting within the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech, leading alumni communication efforts, coordinating direct mail solutions and managing the annual scholarship process for the school.

“Tara’s diverse background in advancement will bring great perspective to the team and will play a significant role in our integration of alumni engagement and annual giving here at UAMS,” said Amanda May, senior director of alumni and annual giving.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight 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, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.

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