UAMS Honors Legislators at Chancellor’s Town Hall
| University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, recognized Arkansas state legislators with newly created awards at a Nov. 14 town hall.
In his opening remarks, Patterson said the chief goal of the university’s strategic plan is to make Arkansas the healthiest state in the region by 2029.
“It cannot be done by UAMS alone. And we need support from across the state if we are going to achieve such a lofty goal,” Patterson said. “So much of that help, support and teamwork comes from our legislative partners.”
Before he gave out the awards, each one shaped like a drop of blood, Andy Davis, UAMS vice chancellor for Institutional Relations, said the university was recognizing each of the legislators for a specific action or commitment to UAMS.
Davis said some served on advisory committees, some helped with research into specific policy and funding issues, and others when requested even made changes to legislation they had proposed.
“It would be too time-consuming to mention every instance where UAMS was potentially and positively affected by legislation and every instance in which these legislators took the time to consider our input,” Davis said. “So, we thank them today with a new award, officially called the Friends of UAMS Award.”
In alphabetical order by name, the state legislators honored were:
- Sen. Justin Boyd
- Sen. Linda Chesterfield
- Rep. Andrew Collins
- Sen. Breanne Davis
- Sen. Jonathan Dismang
- Rep. Zach Gramlich
- Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Bart Hester
- Rep. Ashley Hudson
- Sen. Missy Irvin
- Rep. Lane Jean
- Rep. Lee Johnson
- Rep. John Maddox
- Rep. Stephen Meeks
- Rep. Aaron Pilkington
- Speaker of the House Rep. Matthew Shepherd
- Sen. Clarke Tucker
- Rep. DeAnn Vaught
- Rep. Jeff Wardlaw
- Rep. Richard Womack