UAMS College of Nursing Names Tracie Harrison, Ph.D., to Alice An-Loh Sun Chair in Geriatric Nursing
| LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has appointed Tracie Harrison, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, FGSA, as the holder of the new endowed Alice An-Loh Sun Chair in Geriatric Nursing for the College of Nursing.
Harrison will be joining UAMS at the end of the semester. Harrison joins UAMS from the University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing, where she is a professor. Her work has focused on aging with and into disability among diverse populations.
“We are delighted that Dr. Traci Harrison will be joining the College of Nursing as the holder of the endowed Alice An-Loh Sun Chair in Geriatric Nursing,” said Patricia A. Cowan, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, dean of the College of Nursing.
Harrison is the inaugural recipient of the endowed chair, which previously was an endowed professorship held by Pao-Feng Tsai, Ph.D., RN.
An-Loh Sun was born in Nanking, China, where she graduated from the Chin Lin School of Nursing. Her husband, C.N. Sun, M.D., was a longtime professor of pathology at UAMS and the Central Arkansas Veteran’s Healthcare System. She dedicated 53 years to the nursing profession before retiring in 1979. The Alice An-Loh Sun Chair in Geriatric Nursing was endowed just prior to her death in 2002.
Harrison earned her Master of Science in Nursing at Texas A&M University, and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing as well as a Ph.D. in Nursing from the University of Texas at Austin. She participated in two postdoctoral fellowships, one in gerontological nursing and the other in gerontological health policy.
She served as the founding director of the Center for Excellence in Aging Services and Long-Term Care at The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing.
Her current research includes a mixed-methods study of aging with disabilities among 300 seniors in central Mexico, funded through a bi-national partnership.
“Dr. Harrison will be instrumental in developing a cadre of nurse scientists focused on gerontology and disabilities and provide mentorship to junior faculty and doctoral students,” Cowan said.
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.###