Dr. B. Alan Sugg, UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, his wife, Ginger, and UA Board of Trustees members Jane Rogers, Jim Lindsey and Ben Hyneman. UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, his wife, Ginger, and UA Board of Trustees members Jane Rogers and Ben Hyneman. UAMS’ new education building, named Oct. 22 for Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D.

Oct. 22, 2008 | Praising University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D., as a cornerstone of health care education in Arkansas, the UA Board of Trustees named the new UAMS education building for Wilson during an Oct. 22 dedication ceremony.

The two-floor, 43,000-square-foot I. Dodd Wilson Education Building, which opened for classes in August, includes 16 classrooms and two auditoriums to accommodate growing enrollment in the five colleges and graduate school at UAMS. Naming the building for Wilson recognized more than two decades of growth and success at UAMS during Wilson’s tenure, first as College of Medicine dean and since 2000 as chancellor.

“When we began thinking of what we could do to recognize you for your great service to the state, our university system and UAMS, we thought of this building, which will be a cornerstone for health education here on campus – just as you have been a cornerstone for health care education for this state,” said Board of Trustees chairman Jim Lindsey.

Wilson announced last year that he intended to retire June 30, 2009.

Gov. Mike Beebe, in videotaped comments, agreed that naming the building for Wilson was fitting.

“He is a crusader for improving and expanding education ever since he’s been at UAMS,” Beebe said, adding that the additional classrooms were the best way to “cultivate the talents of Arkansas students to keep them at home and then when they graduate have them stay at home in Arkansas.”

University of Arkansas System President B. Alan Sugg, Ph.D., said the education building was paid for in part by a 2006 bond issue approved “overwhelmingly” by Arkansas voters.

“I think the vote symbolized the support of Arkansans for higher education and for UAMS,” he said.

UAMS, which has historically produced most of Arkansas’ health care professionals, is expanding enrollment in its programs to meet health care work force shortages being compounded as the baby boomer generation reaches retirement age. Enrollment at UAMS has grown 43 percent during Wilson’s stint as chancellor, reaching 2,652 students currently.

Wilson said he “did not have the slightest idea” of the naming in his honor. “I appreciate the honor but it’s something I never worked for.”

“This is a great building for UAMS and for the people of Arkansas,” he said.

The building, with 14 25-seat classrooms, two 40-seat classrooms and the two auditoriums with 214 seats and space for five wheelchairs, provides additional classroom space for all the UAMS colleges and its graduate school. The auditoriums and larger classrooms are wired with interactive video systems that extend the reach of classes to off-campus locations such as the UAMS Area Health Education Centers around the state.

The building also is equipped with wireless Internet access.

Wilson arrived at UAMS in 1986 as a professor and dean of the College of Medicine from the University of Minnesota Medical School, where he was a professor and vice chairman of the Department of Medicine. He was named executive vice chancellor at UAMS in July 1994 and then chancellor in 2000.

Wilson has led growth in patient care, education, research and community outreach programs during his time as chancellor. In 2005, he became the first recipient of the Harry P. Ward Chancellor’s Chair at UAMS, the first chancellor’s chair endowed at an Arkansas university.

Wilson garnered significant private and public funds to support more than $425 million worth of major UAMS expansion projects, including a 540,000-square-foot hospital expansion that will open in 2009 with a new parking deck. The 100,000-square-foot Psychiatric Research Institute will open in December, and a 300,000-square-foot expansion to the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute will open in 2010.

Statewide access to UAMS programs also has improved under Wilson. The number of Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) has grown from six to eight. These nationally recognized centers provide primary health care to the regions they serve and are where many family medicine physicians complete their residencies. The AHECs also provide continuing education for health care professionals who live and work nearby.

He also has overseen the establishment of eight Regional Centers on Aging, putting 90 percent of elderly Arkansans within 60 miles of an interdisciplinary geriatric health care team.

Development of a satellite campus in Northwest Arkansas that will allow further student enrollment growth is under way with a planned opening in fall 2009.

Nabholz Construction of Conway was the construction contractor for the project. Wittenberg, Delony & Davidson Architects of Little Rock was the architect while TME, Inc., of Little Rock was the engineering firm for the project.