UAMS Celebrates Life of Susan Smyth, M.D., Ph.D.
| Feb. 14, 2023 | About 120 people and two dogs gathered Feb. 9 in the Fred Smith Auditorium to participate in a live-streamed celebration of the life of Susan Smyth, M.D., Ph.D., who was the executive vice chancellor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and dean of the UAMS College of Medicine.
Smyth, who joined UAMS in June 2021, died Dec. 31, 2022.
The dogs, English black Labradors Selah and Carmine, were former therapy dogs at the University of Kentucky that Smyth adopted as pets. Wearing service dog vests and on leashes, they were escorted into the auditorium and onto the stage by Smyth’s husband, Andrew J. Morris, Ph.D., and the oldest of the couple’s two sons, Edward.
Just three months earlier, Smyth and Morris gathered in the same auditorium in back-to-back ceremonies for Smyth’s investiture into the Arkansas Medical Society’s Distinguished Dean’s Chair, and Morris’ investiture into the Mehta/Stebbins Chair in Cardiovascular Research. Morris is a professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology.
Smyth’s dual interests in clinical medicine and research were among the defining traits that set her apart throughout her career, according to her colleagues at UAMS and the University of Kentucky College of Medicine who spoke about her contributions to both fields, some from the stage and others through recorded videos.
Before coming to UAMS, Smyth served on the faculty in Kentucky for 15 years in such roles as the Jeff Gill Professor of Cardiology, chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, director of the Gill Heart and Vascular Institute and senior associate director of the Kentucky Center for Clinical and Translational Science. She was also a funded investigator for the VA Health Care system.
In addition to the live and recorded remarks, snippets of written tributes from other colleagues and friends across the country were displayed on a screen above the stage.
“There were far too many to be able to show them all,” said Renee Bornemeier, M.D., associate dean for faculty affairs at UAMS. “Please know that they’ve been collected, and they will be shared with her family.”
Smyth’s mother, Luan Smyth, and one of her two brothers, James Smyth, were in the auditorium, while her youngest son, William, who is about to begin medical school, attended virtually.
Smyth, who was 57 when she died, was remembered as a nationally respected cardiologist, researcher and academic leader, as well as a nice person.
“She was a rare and unique individual who could speak the multiple dialects of academic medicine,” Bornemeier said. “She understood well the clinical mission, the need for cutting-edge research, the importance of educating our next generation and for developing our faculty. She acknowledged everyone’s contribution and individual work.”
Describing Smyth’s leadership style as “inclusive,” Bornemeier said Smyth supported the professional advancement of women leaders, and “was focused on increasing diversity in our workforce and supporting initiatives to help propel the growth and cultivate the advancement of our underrepresented faculty.”
UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, left, visits with the dogs, Morris and son Edward, as Susan Smyth’s white coat hangs behind them.Bryan Clifton
“Her focus on excellence, on accomplishments cannot be beaten,” said Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, UAMS chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health. “The work that she did on our curriculum in Northwest Arkansas was highly innovative and will impact the state for decades. She fostered our relationships with our partners, especially Baptist Health and Arkansas Children’s. She made us all better.”
He introduced Leslie V. Parise, Ph.D., dean of the College of Agriculture and Science at the University of North Carolina, as Smyth’s “first research mentor” and the person who guided her to become the first M.D./Ph.D. graduate of the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, “and set her on her research trajectory.”
“She worked in my lab around the clock, not because I was such a task master but because of her intense curiosity, inner drive and love of science,” Parise said. “But despite her intensity and drive, she was always such a delight, ready and willing to help anyone in the lab.”
Smyth obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, before earning the dual doctoral degrees at UNC. She then completed an internal medicine residency, including a year as chief resident, at University Medical Center in Stony Brook, New York, and cardiology fellowships at Mount Sinai Medical School in New York and UNC, where she joined the faculty in 2001.
Fourth-year medical student Paige Jones-Brooks reads an Emily Dickinson poem, “Forever – is Composed of Nows,” after the audience observes a moment of silence to remember Smyth, whose portrait is to the left of Jones-Brooks.Bryan Clifton
“As the director of the M.D.-Ph.D. program at UAMS, I often describe our combined degree program as one that trains future physician-scientists to build and walk the bridge between bench research and patient care,” said Sara Shalin, M.D., chair of the UAMS Department of Dermatology. “Dr. Smyth lived on that bridge, back and forth, and I’m certain that contributed to her effectiveness as a dean. She was fully invested and equally committed to all aspects of the academic mission.”
Shalin’s remarks were presented by Lee Archer, M.D., chair of the UAMS Council of Department Chairs and chair of the Department of Neurology.
“She wanted to expand our program and to give our students more opportunities to link medicine to science, to public health and to epidemiology,” Shalin’s said. “She once told me that she felt great responsibility as a woman physician-scientist to open doors for others coming behind her. She told me she chose cardiology as her specialty largely because there were so few women in the field, and someone had to pioneer it.”
“When I think about Susan, I think of her as the best of the best in terms of being a physician, a scientist and a mentor,” said Philip Kern, M.D., an endocrinology professor and associate vice president for clinical and translational research at the University of Kentucky who put together the videotaped remarks.
Morris said he and other family members appreciated the remarks as well as condolences that have come in from research partners and friends around the world, and even memorials that have been published in scientific journals. He drew laughter when he said one of those journals had rejected the last paper he and Smyth jointly submitted, “although we did publish it in another journal, so I think we got the last laugh there.”
Smyth’s dogs keep family members company during the service. Morris said they are a great comfort to him now.Bryan Clifton
He said his wife’s death “really makes you think about what’s important in life, and about what’s the measure of a good life,” and that “it’s not wealth or success, or where you go to school or where you work or how many grants you’ve got, how many papers you’ve published, how much time you spend at work. The secret to happiness and fulfillment is the relationships we have with other people. And no one understood that better than Susan.”
A reception outside the auditorium after the ceremony featured a variety of chocolate goodies, in honor of one of Smyth’s favorite foods.
A recording of the event is viewable here.