Susan S. Smyth, M.D., Ph.D.
1965 – 2022
Dr. Susan Smyth was a nationally respected cardiologist, researcher and leader in academic medicine. As executive vice chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and dean of the UAMS College of Medicine from June 2021, until her death on Dec. 31, 2022, Dr. Smyth created and expanded initiatives to improve health care and health equity in Arkansas. She also worked to increase the college’s national standings in medical education, research and clinical care. In November 2022, Dr. Smyth was investedas the Arkansas Medical Society Distinguished Dean’s Chair.
Dr. Smyth was recruited to UAMS from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, where she served on the faculty for 15 years and was the Jeff Gill Professor of Cardiology, chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, and director of the Gill Heart and Vascular Institute in 2011-2021. She also served as a cardiologist and funded investigator for the VA Health Care System. She lent her expertise to numerous national scientific panels and professional organizations, authored more than 200 publications and contributed to over a dozen textbooks.
A native of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Dr. Smyth graduated from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, with a Bachelor of Arts in biology before earning both a medical degree and doctorate in pharmacology from the University of North Carolina (UNC). She completed her internal medicine residency, including a year as chief resident, at University Medical Center in Stony Brook, New York, and cardiology fellowships at Mount Sinai Medical School in New York and UNC, where she joined the faculty in 2001.
In 1988, Dr. Smyth met Andrew Morris, Ph.D. They were married in 1992 and continued to pursue their shared love of science and careers in research and medicine together while raising their sons, Edward and William. Susan and Andrew established and directed an internationally known cardiovascular disease research program as faculty members at UNC, Kentucky and then UAMS, and as funded investigators with the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System. Dr. Smyth was particularly proud of her 18 years of service and the care she was able to provide for veterans as an attending physician at the Lexington, Kentucky, and Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare systems.
Dr. Smyth is survived by her husband; her two sons; her mother, Luan Smyth; and her brothers, Nathan Smyth and James Smyth.
UAMS to Host Celebration of Dr. Smyth on February 9
UAMS will celebrate the inspiring life of Dr. Susan Smyth on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 4:00 p.m., in Fred Smith Auditorium, 12th floor of the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute. All are welcome to attend. If you plan to attend in person, please RSVP here. The event also will be livestreamed at go.uams.edu/live, and a recording will be available on that site following the event and via our upcoming publications.
Memorial Fund Established at UAMS
UAMS has established the Dean Susan Smyth, M.D., Ph.D., Fund for Excellence in Medicine to honor her legacy. Dr. Smyth cared deeply about the UAMS College of Medicine’s education mission. Among many initiatives, she was focused on ensuring diversity in the college’s programs and Arkansas’ physician workforce, increasing scholarship funds for highly promising medical students, and continuing to improve the college’s national rankings for primary care education and producing much-needed primary care physicians for the state.