Renee Bornemeier, M.D., a professor of pediatrics who has served in several faculty leadership roles in the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), has been named associate dean for faculty affairs and development.
Bornemeier will be joined by Theresa Wyrick, M.D., associate professor and vice chair for faculty development in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, who will serve as assistant dean.
“Dr. Bornemeier will bring great energy and expertise to initiatives to strengthen our faculty development programs and other services to support the success of our faculty, and Dr. Wyrick adds to that energy as a strong advocate for mentorship and development of colleagues,” said Executive Vice Chancellor and Dean Susan Smyth, M.D., Ph.D.
Bornemeier succeeds Erick Messias, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., who recently left UAMS for a leadership post at the University of St. Louis. Bornemeier previously worked with Messias as an assistant dean, leading faculty affairs for College of Medicine faculty from multiple departments at Arkansas Children’s since last year.
Bornemeier also has served as interim chair of the Department of Pediatrics since last November and as the department’s vice chair for faculty affairs since 2017. She has been a member of the Pediatrics Promotion and Tenure Committee since 2013. Bornemeier served on the College of Medicine Promotion and Tenure Committee in 2012-2016, including a term as chair in 2015-2016.
Bornemeier graduated from UAMS in 1988 and stayed at UAMS and Arkansas Children’s for her pediatrics residency. She completed a fellowship in pediatric cardiology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and returned to UAMS in 1994 as an instructor in the Department of Pediatrics. Bornemeier rose through the faculty ranks and has served as a professor in the Division of Pediatric Cardiology since 2009.
Her clinical leadership roles have included medical director of the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Heart Station from 1995 to 2008, director of the Bale Fetal Heart Center since 2009, vice chief of staff in 2017-2018 and subsequently chief of staff. Bornemeier also directed the development of the Cardiac 3D Print Lab at Arkansas Children’s.
Wyrick received her medical degree and completed her residency in orthopaedic surgery at UAMS. She continued her training with a fellowship at the Philadelphia Hand Center at Thomas Jefferson University.
Wyrick joined the UAMS faculty as an assistant professor in 2009. In 2012, she was appointed chief of hand and upper extremity surgery at UAMS and medical director of hand and upper extremity surgery at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. She was promoted to associate professor in 2014.
In May 2021, Wyrick was appointed vice chair for faculty development in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, where she has been overseeing efforts to implement a faculty mentorship program as well as working on faculty retention and leadership development. Wyrick has been active in national efforts, as well as initiatives in Arkansas, to advance women in orthopaedic surgery. She serves on the leadership team of the Academic Orthopaedic Consortium and as co-chair of the AOC Women’s Executive Leadership Forum.