History Society Announces Creation of Second Research Award
| April 20, 2018 | The establishment of the Edwina Walls Mann History of the Health Sciences Advocacy Award was announced at the 37th annual meeting of the Society for the History of Medicine and Health Professions on April 12 at the UAMS Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging.
The award will be given to a person, organization or institution that has demonstrated a sustained commitment or made an exceptional contribution to promoting the study, appreciation, preservation and dissemination of the history of the health sciences in Arkansas. The inaugural award will be given at the society’s 2019 dinner.
The award comes in addition to the annual research grant the society awards to encourage research into the history of the health sciences in Arkansas.
Abby Burnett, an independent researcher and journalist, speaks about historical burial practices in the Arkansas Ozarks.
Laura Smith, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, was recognized at the dinner as the winner of the 2018 research grant. Victor Mandoff, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology in the UAMS College of Medicine; and Michael Anders, Ph.D., director of education and research, UAMS Simulation Center, were awarded second place.
The society provides support for the Historical Research Center in the UAMS Library. Other projects include the conservation of rare and classic books in the center. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in preserving the history of UAMS and medicine in Arkansas.
About 60 people attended the event, which also included a historical presentation, reception, dinner and a business meeting.
Abby Burnett, an independent researcher and journalist, presented the lecture “Gone to the Grave: Burial Customs of the Arkansas Ozarks, 1850-1950.” Burnett has written a book on the subject.
The society elected new officers:
- President Patricia Wright, Ph.D., R.N., College of Nursing
- Vice President David L. Davies, Ph.D., Department of Neurobiology & Developmental Sciences in the College of Medicine
- Secretary Steven Strode, M.D.
New board members include Micah Hester, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Medical Humanities, and Corbin Stinnett, a graduate of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, who will be entering Cambridge University this fall. Stinnett is the student representative on the board.
For more information, contact Timothy G. Nutt, director of the Historical Research Center, at 501-686-6735 or tgnutt@uams.edu.