University Firsts
Native Arkansans
Notable Women
College of Medicine
UAMS Facts
100
The first to integrate the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine, this African-American woman went on to graduate from UAMS in 1952 and build a lifelong legacy
Who is Dr. Edith Irby Jones (image via UAMS)
100
Calling Lexa, Arkansas home, this College of Medicine graduate was one of UAMS’ first African American graduates and performed over 500 kidney transplants in his tenure as a world renown surgeon
Who is Dr. Samuel L. Kountz (image via UAMS)
100
This midwife served as a consultant to the Arkansas Department of Health from 1945 to 1950 and trained many of what are today known as the “granny midwives"
Who is Mamie O. Hale (image via CALS)
100
This professor of pathology was the first full-time female faculty member at the University of Arkansas Medical Department in 1917
Who is Mollie King (image via UAMS)
100
In what year was UAMS founded?
When is 1879 (image via UAMS)
200
The first woman to enter medical school at the then Medical Department of the University of Arkansas in 1897 and then graduate in 1901
Who is Dr. Annie Schoppach (image via UAMS)
200
This Schaal, Arkansas native went on to become the first African American to serve as a full professor at UAMS and then on to become the U.S. Surgeon General of the Public Health Service
Who is Dr. Joycelyn Elders (image via UAMS)
200
This notable physician served as the first female dean of the College of Medicine from 2006 to 2013
Who is Dr. Debra Fiser (image via UAMS)
200
This surgeon and professor led the teams that conducted both the first open heart surgery in Arkansas in 1957 and then the first bypass operation in 1959
Who is Dr. Masauki Hara (image via UAMS)
200
What are the two sister affiliates of UAMS?
What are Arkansas Children's Hospital and the VA Hospital (image via ACH)
300
This neurosurgeon was the first woman to graduate from the UAMS neurosurgery residency in 2020
Who is Dr. Heather Pinckard-Dover (image via Bryan Clifton)
300
A native of Benton, Arkansas this anesthesiologist was the first to use a mechanical ventilator in the OR. She was also the first resident physician in the Department of Anesthesiology
Who is Dr. Dola Searcy Thompson Pauly (image via UAMS)
300
The Chief of Breast Oncology at UAMS for the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, this professor is recognized as “one of the ‘Best Doctors in America’”
Who is Dr. Ronda Henry-Tillman (image via UAMS)
300
This hematologist and pediatrician went on to establish the specialty of pediatric oncology at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital in 1967
Who is Dr. Daisilee Berry (image via HRC)
400
This distinguished faculty member was the first African American department chair at UAMS and has an auditorium named after him
Who is Dr. Phillip Leon Rayford (image via UAMS)
400
This UAMS College of Medicine graduate and Pine Bluff native went on to serve as one of President Bill Clinton’s senior advisors on Teen Pregnancies and Youth Issues in the 1990s
Who is Dr. Henry W. Foster Jr. (image via UAMS)
400
This librarian worked to establish the Historical Research Center at UAMS in 1978 as well as the Society for the History of Medicine and Health Professions
Who is Edwina Walls Mann, MLS (image via HRC)
400
This Distinguished Faculty member is believed to be the longest serving chair of Otolaryngology in U.S. history
Who is Dr. James Y. Suen (image via UAMS)
400
How many beds does UAMS hold?
What is 535 (image via UAMS)
500
This native of Jamaica, West Indies was the first POC to serve as the dean and Vice Chancellor of the College of Medicine from 2002-2006
Who is Dr. E. Albert Reece (image via UAMS)
500
This native of Cotton Plant, Arkansas graduated from UAMS in 1963 and went on to establish the first integrated medical practice in Arkansas in 1970
Who is Dr. Raymond Miller (image via UAMS)
500
This Olympian turned orthopedic surgeon completed her surgery residency at UAMS
Who is Dr. Debi Thomas (image via Biography.com)
500
This cardiologist and community leader was the first African American to be trained in cardiology at UAMS
Who is Dr. Joe L. Hargrove (image via UAMS)
500
This UAMS affiliate has created 46 companies and produced an annual payroll of almost $27 million
Who is BioVentures (image via UAMS)