Joyce Wroten, a former vice president for the University of Arkansas System and a leading figure in the state's tobacco settlement, died Saturday after a lengthy illness. She was 77.
Wroten's contributions to the state will forever be remembered, said Cherry Duckett, former vice chancellor for institutional relations at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
"She was a close friend and mentor and was one of kind," Duckett said. "She did so much for the state."
Wroten was a lobbyist for the University of Arkansas System and was described as being a unique and tough individual who knew how to get things done.
"She had a tough job," said Donald Bobbitt, president for the University of Arkansas System. "She was a woman working in the political world, which at the time was male-dominated, but she was honest and very forthright and would always get the job done."
Former Gov. Mike Beebe said Wroten was tougher than a nickel steak.
"We had a pretty rocky relationship at first," Beebe said with a laugh.
Beebe said he remembered a time when they clashed when he was a young state senator and she went to the water fountain and dabbed water underneath her eyes to give the appearance that she was close to crying. He said an older senator noticed and approached him about the situation.
"He asked me, 'Why are you being mean to her?'" Beebe said. "I told him she was meaner than a snake and that she hadn't cried since she was 9 years old. Me and her both laughed about it."
Wroten accomplished much in her life, but her work forming the coalition that developed the tobacco-settlement legislation that put the entire amount into health care had a huge effect on the state, Beebe said.
In 2000, Arkansas voters approved the Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act, a referendum to invest the state's share of a multibillion-dollar tobacco settlement in health-related programs focused on reducing and preventing smoking, improving access to medical care, and bolstering health education and research.
"She was instrumental at getting the University of Arkansas System and the Arkansas State system to coordinate in the deal," Beebe said. "She helped get a long-term research cooperation between the two systems, which is still flourishing to this day. It is a legacy she should be proud of."
Wroten was also instrumental in helping found the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute at Petit Jean Mountain.
The Winthrop Rockefeller Institute was founded in 2005 after the Winthrop Rockefeller Charitable Trust granted the University of Arkansas System a 188-acre campus that formerly was part of a home and cattle farm belonging to Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller, according to the institute's website.
"Talk about creating something out of nothing," Bobbitt said. "She headed up the committee to turn a former ranch into a world-class conference center, and she did just that."
Bobbitt said that without the work of Wroten, the UA System wouldn't be where it is today.
"Every time the system expands, it requires a lot of legal work and work with legislators," Bobbitt said. "It's painstaking work, and you can't make a mistake. I have been here for two expansions, and it takes a lot of work. She probably did at least four or five expansions."
State Desk on 02/18/2019