The 2017 Alumni Weekend held August 18-20 welcomed back more than 200 graduates from all colleges with a chance to reconnect, not only with classmates and friends, but their university as well.
At the College of Medicine luncheon, Pope. L. Moseley, M.D., UAMS executive vice chancellor and dean of the College of Medicine thanked alumni for serving as ambassadors. “You, as graduates, demonstrate every day the successes of UAMS,” he said.
Moseley presented the 2017 Dean’s Distinguished Alumnus Award to James Y. Suen, M.D., COM ’66, distinguished professor and former chair of the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. Suen stepped down as chair of the department in April after 43 years of continuous service and is believed to be the longest-serving chair of otolaryngology in United States history. He was instrumental in development of what is now the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, serving from 2001 to 2007 as its third director, and he holds the Patricia and J. Floyd Kyser, M.D., Endowed Chair in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
“James has really embodied the physician-scholar that we’ve talked about – someone who has pioneered clinical innovation and used scholarship to develop new ways to care for patients,” Moseley said.
“Success and achievements are rarely accomplished by one person,” Suen said. “I accept this honor on behalf of my nurses, my administrative assistants, my residents, my colleagues, all who have helped me with patient care, my academic achievements or endeavors – I could not do anything I do without all of the people that help me.”