UAMS to Host Aug. 13 Luncheon Featuring Temple Grandin

By Nate Hinkel

Grandin’s story, a source of inspiration worldwide for those with autism and their family members, will be the focus of her presentation at a luncheon Aug. 13 at the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion.

Tickets for the luncheon are $40 and can be purchased by contacting Renie Rule, (501) 526-4232 or RPRule@uams.edu.

The event is sponsored by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ Psychiatric Research Institute and the UAMS College of Medicine’s Division of Genetics, and hosted by honorary co-chairs Clarke Delp, Victor Jacuzzi, Dorothy Morris, and Carrie and Miles Eggart.

A professor of animal science at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., Grandin has received numerous awards from the livestock industry and animal-welfare groups for in improving the conditions in large processing plants around the country. She credits her sympathetic approach to animals to her mental condition and her fascination with the power of human contact.

Named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” in 2010, she received a master’s degree in animal science from Arizona State University in 1975, and a doctoral degree in animal science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1989. The HBO film about her life and early career, “Temple Grandin,” earned five Emmys in 2010.

“Dr. Grandin has a fascinating story to tell, not only from the standpoint of a woman involved in what is predominantly a male-oriented field, but also as someone who stood up for herself when others had written her off,” said Debra Fiser, M.D., dean of the College of Medicine.

The luncheon will include a panel discussion featuring Molly Gathright, M.D., of the Psychiatric Research Institute and G. Bradley Schaefer, M.D., director of the Division of Genetics.

“We feel very fortunate to have Dr. Grandin come to Arkansas to speak,” said G. Richard Smith, M.D., director of the Psychiatric Research Institute and chairman of the UAMS Department of Psychiatry. “Her accomplishments have shown that someone with autism can be a productive member of society, and we are looking forward to learning more about her successes.”

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. Named best Little Rock metropolitan area hospital by U.S. News & World Report, it is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has more than 2,800 students and 775 medical residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including about 1,000 physicians and other professionals who provide care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com.