A famed cardiologist who serves now as an executive at the nation’s largest nonprofit hospital has been selected to be the next chancellor for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock.
UA System President Donald Bobbitt said in a statement he will recommend Dr. Cam Patterson to replace Dr. Dan Rahn, who retired in July after eight years leading UAMS.
Patterson and Stephanie Gardner, 53, who before becoming interim chancellor at UAMS was the senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost, were named finalists for the position earlier this month.
Patterson, the senior vice president and chief operating officer at Weill-Cornell Medical Center, New York Presbyterian Hospital, would join UAMS on June 1 if Bobbitt's pick is upheld by the Board of Trustees.
In a statement, Patterson said he was "humbled and honored" by the opportunity.
“I know that we have many key initiatives underway and decisions to make in both the short- and long-term, and I am committed to working with our team to ensure we continue to provide the very best education, health care and research for the state," he said.
Bobbitt called Patterson and Gardner both "extremely high-quality candidates," but noted Patterson brings "experience in leading a very complex clinical enterprise" and a "varied background in clinical care, research and administrative leadership."
The state has allocated a maximum of $375,000 for this fiscal year for the position, but Arkansas Code Annotated 6-63-309 states that a limited percentage of exceptionally qualified people can earn up to 25 percent more than the line-item appropriated amount. Institutions can supplement salaries through private funds as well.
Gardner and Patterson were among six new applicants for the position since the system reopened the search for a new chancellor in August. At the time, the system had also named two finalists, both of whom visited UAMS campuses in Little Rock and Fayetteville, interviewed with the faculty and the staff at UAMS, UA System administration and trustees — and withdrew from the race.
Dr. Jeannette Shorey, who led a 17-member search committee appointed by Bobbitt, said that the last two finalists’ home institutions valued them so much that they put together retention offers, which the finalists both accepted.
Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
Reporter Aziza Musa contributed to this story.