UAMS Raises $385 Million to Surpass Campaign Goal

By Jon Parham

 Helen Woodyard gets a kiss before her mom talks about the importance of philanthropy at UAMS.
Helen Woodyard gets a kiss before her mom
Peyton Woodyard talks about the importance
of philanthropy at UAMS.

March 10, 2011 | While the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) celebrated $385 million raised in its seven-year Campaign Imagine comprehensive campaign today, Peyton Woodyard praised not having to drive out of state for her daughter’s medical treatments thanks to the power of philanthropy.

Declaring the first UAMS Philanthropy Day to honor the support of all friends and donors to UAMS, including the gifts of more than 32,000 campaign donors, UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D., announced the total raised in the largest campaign in the institution’s 131-year history. The $385,133,218 raised surpassed the $325 million campaign goal.

“We simply cannot overstate the importance of private support,” Rahn said, listing several of the construction projects, programs, endowed chairs and scholarships funded by philanthropy.

A scholarship recipient in the UAMS College of Pharmacy thanked supporters who made possible her continued study. A scientist praised gifts to endowed chairs that funded research in breast cancer.

Woodyard of Little Rock talked about countless trips to Dallas one summer so that her then 5-year-old daughter could get specialized light treatments to control an uncommon skin disease.

“Our life was on hold as we made countless trips back and forth,” Woodyard said, adding they met other Arkansas parents making the same drive. The experience spurred the family to spearhead a fundraising drive that allowed purchase of the machine needed for the light therapy sessions.

“I will always be grateful for those who helped make this dream a reality,” Woodyard said, flanked by her daughter Helen, now 7 and coming to UAMS for the phototherapy. “All I wanted to do was make it easier for my family and the next family. Philanthropy is an important and powerful tool.”

Donations to Campaign Imagine provided funds for numerous construction projects both on the Little Rock campus and at the regional UAMS Northwest campus in Fayetteville. The campaign funded endowed chairs and professorships, scholarships, research programs and medical equipment.

For Philanthropy Day, more than 800 gift tags adorned UAMS buildings, research areas, pieces of equipment, education opportunities and programs made possible by philanthropy. Scholarship recipients and endowed chair or professorship holders also participated by wearing tags to illustrate the impact of giving to UAMS.

“Philanthropic support has been an integral part of the success and transformation of this great institution,” Rahn said, thanking all who have given to UAMS. “Philanthropy has helped create and expand our institutes and the programs that provide expert care for patients.”

“Philanthropy has strengthened the professional education provided by our colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health and Health Related Professions, as well as our Graduate School, our Area Health Education Centers and our Centers on Aging around the state, our regional campus in northwest Arkansas and our new hospital and also supported cutting-edge research that can lead to new medical treatments,” he said.

The 32,529 campaign donors came from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 15 foreign countries. Nearly 70 percent of those donors (21,842) were new UAMS supporters. Those new donors gave $49.1 million of the total.

Campaign Imagine helped fund $153.4 million in construction of new or expanded facilities. These included the Pat and Willard Walker Eye Research Center, the Psychiatric Research Institute, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging expansion, a new state-of-the-art hospital, the expansion of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Leland and Betty Tollett Retinal and Ocular Genetics Center in the Jones Eye Institute, and a regional campus in northwest Arkansas for the colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Health Related Professions.

The campaign also:
• Endowed 35 chairs and professorships
• Provided $49.7 million for faculty and student support
• Funded $68.2 million in research
• Provided $89.1 million for statewide program support

“The unparalleled success of this campaign is proof of the value that supporters place on UAMS and its mission,” Rahn said. “Since UAMS receives only 9 percent of its funding from the state, private support from philanthropists continues to be vital to our ability to fulfill our mission.”

In addition to the gift tags around campus to symbolize the power of philanthropy, the event featured remarks from the pharmacy scholarship recipient, and the orthopaedics researcher who received an endowed chair.

Scholarship recipient Marlene Battle of Eudora, a first-year pharmacy student, said that growing up she saw the important role a pharmacist plays in the health of a community. “As a married mother of three children and living on a single income, this scholarship will aid in my school expenses,” she said.

Larry Suva, Ph.D., inaugural recipient of the Carl L. Nelson Endowed Chair in Orthopaedic Creativity and director of the UAMS Center for Orthopaedic Research, pointed to the discoveries of a new marker for breast cancer and the cause for the increased broken bones in patients with Down’s syndrome. That work was funded through proceeds from the endowment.

“When chairs are endowed, the funds raised are invested to generate income dedicated for use by the chairholder, leaving the endowed fund as a source of income in perpetuity,” he said. “The endowment has allowed the blossoming of the academic research and education efforts in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Center for Orthopaedic Research at UAMS.”

Rahn credited the work of longtime UAMS supporters Hugh McDonald, E. Lee Ronnel, Judith Snowden and Debbie Walker, who served on the Campaign Imagine Steering Committee. He also thanked the many UAMS board members and other volunteers who helped the institution reach this goal.

The chancellor emphasized that the campaign’s successes do not end UAMS’ need for private philanthropic support. He said future fundraising goals will be based on the vision of conducting activities that result in better health.