UAMS College of Public Health Celebrates Class of 2025
| The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health celebrated its newest group of graduates during its 2025 commencement at Little Rock’s Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts.
There were 78 graduates in this year’s class.
Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, reminded graduates of their responsibility to society as they enter the next phase of their public health aspirations.
“You chose a field that is not about prestige — but about people, about communities, about making sure that no person is invisible,” he said.
“Public health is not always glamorous,” Patterson added. “It often happens behind the scenes. When it works, most people don’t know it’s there. But we know it’s there. Your work may not always make headlines. But it will always matter.”
Patterson also urged the graduates to remain steadfast in addressing untruths regarding various aspects of health.
“You entered this journey during a time of tremendous global upheaval,” he said. “Many of you started your studies in the shadows of a brutal pandemic. Yet, maybe because of that, you continued forward. You have trained to solve problems that don’t often have easy answers. Now, here you are, ready, equipped, and most important of all, needed now more than ever.”
“Be brave,” Patterson said. “Be curious. Be unafraid to speak hard truths. Most of all, never forget why you started.”
Mark Williams, Ph.D., dean of the College of Public Health, commended the graduates for earning an elite public health education and for their willingness to serve the masses.
“I want to offer my congratulations on completing this part of your educational journey,” he said. “It’s important that the United States and Arkansas have highly trained professionals to provide public health and health care administration leadership.
“People will expect you to tell the truth,” Williams added. “Health is an essential resource. Without health, we cannot work. We cannot raise our families, and indeed, we cannot enjoy life.”
He emphasized to the graduates why they’ve worked so hard and why they should remain ready to provide expert leadership when health-related uncertainties arise.
“Graduates, as a public health professional, people will ask you to help them understand their world, and to explain science,” he said.
Williams also presented Jim Wallis with the 2025 Award for Service to the College of Public Health. Wallis — an Arkansas native who now resides in Oklahoma — is a staunch supporter of public health in the Natural State. A businessman and cousin of the late Joseph H. Bates, M.D. M.S., former associate dean in the college, Wallis has donated more than $100,000 to the College of Public Health. His financial support was key to establishing the school’s Joseph H. Bates Chair in Academic Public Health Practice.
Mark Williams, Ph.,D., (right) dean of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, presents Jim Wallis with an award during the college’s 2025 commencement.
“The chair will provide opportunities in perpetuity to support faculty, research on how to best implement public health measures in Arkansas and beyond,” Williams said. “Moreover, Mr. Wallis was always ready to support with a gift when it was needed the most. Recently, he provided the bulk of funds required to establish a scholarship for our Master of Public Health students. Mr. Wallis recognized the need to support good public health science and to train public health professionals.”
This was the first time in the college’s 24-year existence that it has hosted a commencement exercise. Previously, the school participated in a UAMS-wide commencement. However, last summer, UAMS administrators decided to have each college conduct its own graduation instead of having a school-wide commencement.
Williams said he was pleased with the college’s ceremony, especially the portion of the event when the graduates, the college’s faculty and the public health professionals in attendance stood to read the public health oath in unison.
“Our obligation and responsibility is to truthfully report science,” Williams told the graduates. “You want to make a difference. You want to leave the world in a better place. Public health is important. Health care administration is important. But they will only remain important if we recognize our professional responsibilities to impart scientific proof.”