Charles White Retires After Five Decades at UAMS

By Nate Hinkel

Gov. Mike Beebe greets Charles White at an event honoring White.Gov. Mike Beebe greets Charles White at an event honoring White.

UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D., (standing, left) poses with 53-year UAMS employee Charles White and his granddaughter Stacy Moultrie, a senior analyst in UAMS Information Technology.

Betty Jo Ward, wife of the late Chancellor Emeritus Harry P. Ward, M.D., visits with Charles White.

Betty Jo Ward, wife of the late Chancellor Emeritus Harry P. Ward, M.D., visits with Charles White.

Jan. 09, 2012 | December marked the end of an era with the retirement of Charles White, assistant vice chancellor for employee relations after 53 years at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

In a recent interview to record his recollections of UAMS, he noted that the campus consisted of just four buildings. Today the campus encompasses more than 5 million square feet of facilities and includes locations around the state.

So, too, did his contributions to UAMS develop over that half century. Yet his thoughts were not on the number of years he would eventually clock.

“I don’t think in terms of longevity,” White said. “I just wanted to do the work that was at hand.”

Fresh from earning his master’s degree in social work from the University of Missouri, White joined UAMS on July 8, 1958 as a pediatric social worker investigating child abuse cases and helping families get medical care they needed.

White’s early years at UAMS coincided with the Civil Rights Era. In a society with separate bathrooms and other facilities for African Americans, he said he experienced no unpleasantness at UAMS.

“I was accepted. Most people worried more that I was going to report them for child abuse, but they didn’t mistreat me because of race,” he said. “Warmth and acceptance was a way of life at UAMS.”

In 1972, he was named director of social services, and then two years later — in 1974 — he was appointed by then-UAMS Chancellor James Dennis, M.D., as director in the Office of Human Relations. He was named assistant vice chancellor for employee relations in 2003 and remained in that position until his retirement.

White said the essence of his work remained the same — helping people. He said his parents instilled in him from an early age the belief that “every person should be treated with dignity, worth and respect.”

White said he is most proud of his service on the chancellor’s cabinet. For many years, UAMS employees would encounter White when he spoke about grievance procedures and employee rights during new employee orientation.

“I think that had an effect. To let them know right up front what their rights were,” he said.

White said he always listened to any employee who came to him with a complaint or concern. “Very rarely” he said was it necessary to appoint a formal grievance committee.

While the extensive growth of the campus during his tenure is memorable, his fondest memories were the coworkers and university leaders.

“It was the people that kept me here…that kept me going,” White said. “Even though UAMS was getting bigger, it still had a family feel.”