UAMS Board of Advisors Names Nine New Members

Sept. 21, 2021 | LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) named nine new members to its Board of Advisors.

The UAMS Board of Advisors is comprised of business and community leaders and philanthropists who serve as ambassadors and raise public awareness of the unique, critical role that UAMS has in Arkansas. They also generate and provide philanthropic support, including identifying and working with prospective UAMS donors. Members can serve up to three, three-year terms at a time.

“Members of the UAMS Board of Advisors are among our greatest advocates,” said UAMS Chancellor and UAMS Health CEO Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA. “They serve as valued partners and trusted advisors for UAMS leadership as we work together to make Arkansas one of the healthiest states in the region. I’m grateful to these new members for making such a selfless commitment to UAMS.”

The new UAMS Board of Advisors members are:

Diane Alderson of El Dorado

Alderson is principal of the Alderson Management Company, which primarily provides financial management for businesses. She and her late husband, Edwin Alderson Jr., were involved in creating the El Dorado Murphy Arts District. She is a former member of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees. She is also a member of the Society of the Double Helix, which recognizes UAMS’ most outstanding philanthropists.

Patti Bailey of Little Rock

Bailey has been involved in commercial and multifamily real estate ownership and management since the early 1980s, initially in Chicago, before moving to Little Rock in 1991. She is a member of the University of Arkansas Foundation Board of Directors. She is a former member of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Institute Board of Advisors and Psychiatric Research Institute Advisory Council, and served as chair of the UAMS Board of Advisors from 2013 to 2016. She is also a member of the Society of the Double Helix, which recognizes UAMS’ most outstanding philanthropists.

Sandra Connor of Dallas

Connor received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. She served as co-chair of the University of Arkansas Capital Campaign and is a former president of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Board of Trustees. She is a former member of the UAMS Board of Advisors and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging Advisory Board. She is also a member of the Society of the Double Helix, which recognizes UAMS’ most outstanding philanthropists.

Chris Fowler of Jonesboro

Fowler is president of Fowler Foods Inc. and owner of more than 85 Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bell franchises in an eight-state region. He and his family have given extensively to support Arkansas institutions in health care, education and the arts.

Elder Granger, M.D., of Centennial, Colorado

Granger, a retired major general with the U.S. Army, is founder and CEO of The 5Ps LLC, a technology consulting company. He received his medical degree from UAMS in 1980 and served his internal medicine residency at UAMS in 1983. Prior to his retirement from the U.S. Army, Granger served as deputy director and program executive officer of the TRICARE Management Activity, the predecessor of the Defense Health Agency, which is the military’s medical system. In 2018, he created the Edith Irby Jones, M.D. Endowed Scholarship in the College of Medicine. He is a member of the College of Medicine Dean’s Society and Board of Visitors.

Jennifer Schueck McCarty of Little Rock

McCarty is a lifelong Little Rock resident. A realtor with the Janet Jones Company, she holds a BSBA degree in marketing and business administration. She is a graduate of Mount St. Mary’s Academy and the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

 

Lance Taylor of Springdale

Taylor is a lifelong resident of Northwest Arkansas and currently lives in Tontitown. He is president of the Schmieding Foundation in Springdale and is active in the community. He is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where he received his degree in marketing management. Taylor has served on various boards including the Springdale Rotary Club and the UAMS Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging Advisory Board.

William Thames of Little Rock

Thames is regional insurance president for McGriff Insurance Services. He is an Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce director and a member of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Chancellor’s Circle, UAMS’ premier annual giving society.

Nathan Waldrip of Little Rock

Waldrip is the senior vice president of operations for Armor Bank. He earned his MBA degree from the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business. He is a member of the Brandon Burlsworth Foundation Board of Directors.

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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