Gifts from Walker Foundation, Jane Lyon Honor UAMS’ Jeanne Wei, M.D., Ph.D., Create Distinguished Chair
| LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) received gifts totaling more than $2.1 million to create the Jeanne Wei, M.D., Ph.D., Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Geriatric Medicine, an endowed fund in the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging.
The Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation made a $1 million donation to create the endowed chair, and Jane Lyon donated $1 million to elevate it to a distinguished chair. Additionally, a $100,000 gift was made by an anonymous donor, and many others have contributed to this new chair to honor Jeanne Wei, M.D., Ph.D.
Each of these philanthropic gifts was made in recognition of Wei, the executive director of the UAMS Institute on Aging and chair of the Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatrics in the College of Medicine, whose many years of work has helped and inspired people from Arkansas and beyond.
Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, addressed guests during the press conference.Evan Lewis
“This is a historic day for UAMS and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging as we honor our colleague Dr. Jeanne Wei, and the benefactors who have made this important chair possible,” said Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, UAMS chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health. “Endowed chairs are a prestigious honor given to the most distinguished faculty members, and provide support for research, education and clinical services. Further, they help us recruit and retain world-class educators, scientists and clinicians.”
A distinguished chair is established with gifts of at least $1.5 million, which are invested, with the interest proceeds used to support the educational, research and clinical activities of the chair holder.
The holder of the Jeanne Wei, M.D., Ph.D., Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Geriatric Medicine will be a physician, researcher, clinician or faculty member in the Institute on Aging with preference given to the director or someone in a leadership position. The chair will be selected by the dean of the College of Medicine.
The Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation supports charitable, religious, scientific, literary or educational endeavors in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas. The Walker Foundation strives to provide funding to organizations they believe will benefit most from the foundation’s support while honoring the legacy of Pat and Willard Walker. The foundation has supported the Institute on Aging since its inception, helping create and expand programs such as the UAMS Walker Memory Research Center, which provides state-of-the-science evaluation and intervention services that reflect the latest strategies to help improve or maintain cognitive and functional abilities, delay functional decline, and promote well-being and quality of life.
“The creation of the Jeanne Wei Distinguished Chair was an effortless decision because of how essential it is that the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging has the appropriate resources to help Arkansas’ seniors,” said Mandy Macke, executive director of the Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation. “On behalf of the Walker Foundation, I also want to express how important it is that we honor our dear friend Dr. Jeanne Wei, a physician whose attentive and warm care has helped countless patients, and a leader whose renowned abilities has paved the way for many doctors in the field of geriatrics.”
Jane Lyon, Jeanne Wei, M.D., Ph.D., and Mandy Macke during the event’s reception.Evan Lewis
Jane Lyon has a longstanding commitment to the Institute on Aging, providing a voice for its inception, and giving for its creation and expansion. Together with her husband, the late Frank Lyon Jr., the couple provided transformative support for the institute, including the establishment of the Thomas and Lyon Longevity Clinic, named in honor of the couple’s parents — Frank and Marian Lyon and Henry and Helen Thomas — who were beneficiaries of the care provided at the institute.
“I was pleased to hear of the efforts to create this chair in the Reynolds Institute on Aging, and I was very happy to learn it would be established in honor of Dr. Jeanne Wei, an impressive doctor and an amazing person that I’ve had the pleasure to know for quite some time,” said Jane Lyon. “I am also happy to lend my support to the Jeanne Wei Distinguished Chair because it will be a powerful asset for UAMS in helping seniors, a demographic that certainly needs the specialized care that this chair will advance.”
Wei, known worldwide for her work in geriatrics, has served Arkansans for more than two decades at UAMS. She has authored six books and more than 180 peer-reviewed publications and 70 review articles. She’s secured six medical-related U.S. patents, received multiple National Institute of Health grants and served as chairman of the Board of Scientific Counselors of National Institute on Aging and as a member of the National Advisory Council on Aging. Additionally, she has received numerous teaching awards such as the Outstanding Clinical Educator Award from Harvard Medical School, and from UAMS, the Outstanding Woman Faculty Award and the Red Sash Award for excellence in teaching.
Jeanne Wei, M.D., Ph.D., had an opportunity to express her gratitude towards the Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation and Jane Lyon.Evan Lewis
“I am truly humbled by the continued commitment of the Walker Foundation and Jane Lyon towards the health and well-being of seniors in Arkansas, a field of medicine that I’ve devoted most of my professional life to,” said Wei. “I am very excited about the possibilities that come with this new chair — in this moment, the potential seems abundant and limitless. It will certainly have a profound impact on the work of the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging.”
Founded in 2000, the Institute on Aging’s world-class geriatricians care for thousands of patients each year. It maintains a statewide network of seven regional Centers on Aging, including the innovative Schmieding Home Caregiver Training Program, and focuses on research in memory loss, neurodegenerative disease, cardiovascular health and nutrition. The institute is also nationally recognized for educating and training geriatricians at the Department of Geriatrics in the College of Medicine.
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.###