University of Arkansas For Medical Sciences - History

History

In 1879, eight physicians, led by P.O. Hooper of Little Rock, each invested $625 to secure a charter for a medical school from Arkansas Industrial University (which later became the University of Arkansas). They purchased the Sperindio Restaurant and Hotel building on West Second Street in Little Rock for $5,000 to house the school, which opened on Oct. 7, 1879 with 22 students.

In 1880, Dr. Tom Pinson was the first graduate of the medical school.

In 1935, the medical school was moved to a new building next to the City Hospital in Little Rock. The five-story, $450,000 structure gave the School of Medicine a boost in clinical instruction of medical students. The hospital’s physicians were members of the school’s teaching faculty. The medical school building now houses the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's William H. Bowen School of Law; the hospital building was torn down and became the law school's parking lot.

The next move came in 1950, when a 26-acre (110,000 m2) tract of land on West Markham Street was formally deeded to the university by the Arkansas State Hospital, a state-owned psychiatric hospital. In 1956, the university, then known as University of Arkansas Medical Center (UAMC), moved to the West Markham campus where it is currently. The university also assumed control of City Hospital, which moved with it; it became known as University Hospital, and more recently UAMS Medical Center.

The education mission of the institution also has grown. In 1951, the School of Pharmacy was established, followed in 1953 by the School of Nursing. In 1970, the School of Health Related Professions was approved by the University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees.

In 1995, the UAMS Graduate School was granted independent status from the Graduate School at the University of Arkansas. In 2003, the College of Public Health opened. In 2005, the College of Public Health was named for the late Dr. Fay W. Boozman, a UAMS graduate who led the Arkansas Department of Health from 1998 until his death in 2005.

In 1975, the names of the schools on campus were changed to colleges and the executive officer’s title became chancellor. In 1980, after being known by several different names through history, the institution’s name changed to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

Dr. I. Dodd Wilson is the current UAMS chancellor. Wilson came to UAMS in 1986 as a professor and dean of the UAMS 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. He was named chancellor in 2000.

Wilson succeeded Dr. Harry P. Ward, who served 21 years as chancellor and is credited with leading UAMS’ transformation from a small medical school with a charity hospital to an academic health center and research leader. The hospital’s Harry P. Ward Tower is named for him.

Dr. James L. Dennis was the first chancellor. He was originally named vice president of health sciences in 1970, becoming chancellor in 1975 when the title of the institution’s executive officer was changed. To honor his achievements they named the Section of Pediatrics building after him.