UAMS Invests Corey O. Montgomery, M.D., in Chair in Orthopaedic Oncology
| LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine invested Corey O. Montgomery, M.D., an associate professor in the UAMS College of Medicine’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, in the Richard W. Nicholas, M.D., & Corey O. Montgomery, M.D., Chair in Orthopaedic Oncology during an Oct. 29 ceremony.
“I am so immensely proud to stand before you today as the new holder of the Richard Nicholas and Corey Montgomery endowed chair of orthopaedic oncology,” said Montgomery. “This has been a phenomenal opportunity — I will continue to work hard to prove that I am worthy of this position. I came from a small town, I’ve achieved a great deal, and I have a lot more to achieve, and I thank you all for this opportunity.”
Montgomery is a board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeon specializing in malignant and benign tumors of the bone and soft tissues in both adults and children. Montgomery is the only fellowship-trained orthopaedic oncologist in Arkansas and cares for patients at UAMS and Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
“Endowed chairs are the highest honors of academic excellence that a university can bestow upon its faculty — it denotes commitment to excellence, leadership in charting the course of an institution, a commitment to training and a commitment to care for our patients,” said Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, UAMS chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health. “Dr. Montgomery, I cannot thank you enough for what you’ve done for UAMS. You are deserving of an honor such as this, and we are grateful for what you have contributed and what you will do in the future.”
An endowed chair is established with gifts of at least $1 million, which are invested and the interest proceeds used to support the educational, research and clinical activities of the chair holder. Those named to a chair are among the most highly regarded scientists, physicians and professors in their fields.
The chair is named in honor of Montgomery and his former colleague Richard W. Nicholas, M.D., who was invested as the inaugural holder in 2016. Nicholas, now retired, developed the state’s only program dedicated to the study of orthopaedic tumors. An expert in orthopaedic oncology, he was a professor in the UAMS College of Medicine departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Pathology, as well as the director of the Center for Bone and Soft Tissue Tumors at the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. He also served as director of education for the Cancer Institute and chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Nicholas and Montgomery shared an uncommon distinction and bond as Arkansas’ only orthopaedic oncologists.
“Endowed chairs such as this are a prestigious honor — they help us recruit and retain world-class clinicians, educators and scientists, and just as importantly, they support the vital work and vision of the faculty who hold them,” said Steven Webber, M.D., dean of the College of Medicine and UAMS executive vice chancellor. “It is truly an honor today to celebrate the generosity and philanthropic spirit of the people who have made this endowed chair possible. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the impact that the namesakes of this chair, Dr. Nicholas and Dr. Montgomery, have already had on orthopaedic oncology in Arkansas.”
A native of Tylertown, Mississippi, Montgomery attended Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi, and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1999, graduating magna cum laude, and a Master of Science degree in 2000. He earned his medical degree, with high honors, from the University of Tennessee School of Medicine in Memphis, Tennessee. During medical school, he was inducted into the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. He then completed his five-year orthopaedic surgery residency at UAMS. Montgomery completed his fellowship in orthopaedic oncology at the University of Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida.
Montgomery joined the UAMS Department of Orthopaedic Surgery as an assistant professor in 2010. He served as both the assistant director of the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program and director of the Medical Student Clerkship Program from 2011 to 2021. In 2021, Montgomery was appointed as director of the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program, overseeing the training and education of the department’s orthopaedic residents. In the spring of 2023, he was also named vice chair of education for the department. Since joining the faculty, Montgomery has mentored more than 20 medical students pursuing a career in orthopaedic surgery and served as the faculty research advisor for 12 orthopaedic residents.
Montgomery has received numerous accolades as both a resident and a faculty member. As a resident, he was the recipient of the Carl L. Nelson Resident Leadership Award and the Best Resident Teaching Award. As a faculty member, he received numerous awards for his medical student and resident teaching, including numerous Red Sash awards from the UAMS College of Medicine. He was a co-recipient of the Walter Selakovich Orthopaedic Faculty Teaching Award in 2013, and the 2022 and 2023 recipient of the R. Dale Blasier, M.D., Residency Education Award in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. For patient care, he is frequently named as one on the best orthopaedic surgeons in numerous “Best Doctor” reviews. He has also been named a Castle Connolly Top Doctor each year since 2021.
He is also involved in research. He served as the principal investigator on several research projects, resulting in 38 peer-reviewed research publications. His current research interests include evaluating the effects of metastatic carcinoma and myeloma on bone, evaluating the effects of radiation on the musculoskeletal system before and after soft-tissue sarcoma surgery, and examining the effects of nutrition on bone sarcomas.
“We know Dr. Montgomery as a scholar who is a compassionate doctor, a gifted surgeon and an elegant teacher,” said C. Lowry Barnes, M.D., chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in the UAMS College of Medicine. “Most importantly, Corey is a friend to UAMS and the people who work here — thank you, Corey, we are certainly excited for you.”
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 3,485 students, 915 medical residents and fellows, and seven dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 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.###