Chancellor spot down to UAMS veteran, Cornell medical center COO

The University of Arkansas System has named two finalists for the chancellor position at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Stephanie Gardner, interim chancellor, provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, and Cam Patterson, senior vice president and chief operating officer at Weill-Cornell Medical Center, New York Presbyterian Hospital, both will have formal visits to the UAMS campus the week of Dec. 13, according to a UA System press release.

Gardner was named interim chancellor at UAMS in July, after serving as senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost since July 1, 2016. She previously served as associate provost for society and health at UAMS for two years after an 11-year tenure as dean of the UAMS College of Pharmacy, according to the release.

Patterson has served as senior vice president and chief operating officer at Weill-Cornell Medical Center since 2014. He is a cardiologist and previously held numerous academic and clinical appointments at the University of North Carolina, including as physician-in-chief at the UNC Center for Heart and Vascular Care and executive director of the UNC McAllister Heart Institute, according to the UA.

More information about the search and the finalists may be found here.

“I’m very grateful for the hard work and dedication of the members of our advisory search committee throughout this process,” Jeannette Shorey, chair of the advisory search committee and associate provost for faculty, said in a press release. “We have two wonderful finalists who both have impressive credentials and unique experiences in academic medicine. I’m very excited to have each of them visit with our many constituencies next week.”

Each finalist will have two days of meetings on campus with faculty, staff, administrators and members of the Board of Trustees of the UA System. Gardner’s visit will be December 11-12 and Patterson will visit December 13-14.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to present these two highly qualified individuals to the UAMS students, faculty, staff and to our trustees,” UA System President Donald Bobbitt said in the release. “I’m confident that both of our finalists have the skills and experience to thrive as our next chancellor, and I believe both understand and appreciate the important role UAMS plays as the state’s only academic health center. These are unique times for academic health centers across the country and it’s critical that we have a leader who can help ensure a bright future for UAMS moving forward. I’m pleased that both of these individuals are excited about pursuing this opportunity.”

Dan Rahn, the fourth chancellor of UAMS, retired July 31. He held the position since 2009.