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FEB.
19, 2002 | President Bill Clinton praised Little Rock
philanthropist Jack Stephens today for a gift that
will enable the University of Arkansas for Medical
Sciences (UAMS) to push back “the frontiers of
medical science.”
President Clinton spoke at a “topping out”
ceremony this morning for the Jackson T. Stephens
Spine and Neurosciences Institute at UAMS. Mr.
Stephens’ gift of $48 million to create the
institute is the largest in the history of UAMS and
one of the largest in Arkansas history.
Of Jack Stephens’ great wealth and philanthropy,
President Clinton said, “if no one was out there
striving, no good [would be] done.”
Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee called the gift
“staggering” and predicted that UAMS will be able
to improve “the quality of life for people all over
the world.”
President Clinton, Governor Huckabee, Jackson T.
“Steve” Stephens, Warren Stephens, and other
members of the Stephens family attended the “topping
out,” when workers lower a ceremonial final steel
beam, adorned with the flags of the United States and
Arkansas as well as an evergreen tree, into place at
the top of the structure.
With high winds forecast this morning, workers
building the sophisticated center for spine treatment
and neuroscience research actually lowered the final
beam into place yesterday so that President Clinton
and the family of Mr. Stephens could watch a video of
the “topping out” at today’s ceremony.
As strong winds ruffled the tent on a parking lot near
the construction site, UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson,
M.D., told the Stephens family, “we covenant with
you” to offer world-class care to UAMS patients at
the Stephens Institute.
President Clinton, an Arkansas native, former
governor, and the 42nd President of the
United States, thanked Jack Stephens for his support
of UAMS.
”This medical center was important to me when I was
governor,” he told the audience of university deans,
faculty, and major donors, explaining that his late
father-in-law received treatment at UAMS.
Jackson T. “Steve” Stephens and his brother,
Warren Stephens, represented their father at the
ceremony. Steve Stephens told the audience “I
imagine that if my father were here, he would say,
‘Glad I could help.’” The gift for the institute
is a way of saying “thank you to the state where he
has lived out his dreams.”
Warren Stephens joked drily that his father developed
a passion for the game of golf about 40 years ago –
and developed back problems at about the same time.
”His interest in medical care in general, and
specifically in the spine, has led him to make this
gift,” he said. “The University of Arkansas for
Medical Sciences has been integral” to the growth
and quality of life of central Arkansas, but “people
all over the world come to Arkansas to seek treatment
at UAMS,” he added. With Jack Stephens’ gift, UAMS
will “lead the world in spine research and care.”
Chancellor Wilson earlier introduced President Clinton
by telling how the president intervened during
Thanksgiving weekend, 2000, to ensure that UAMS would
receive vital federal funds. “President Clinton’s
actions saved UAMS,” he said as applause thundered
through the tent.
Chancellor Wilson called Jack Stephens “an
incredible leader and supporter of UAMS.”
”We want to thank you for your continuing support
and especially this wonderful transforming gift,” he
told Mr. Stephens, who was unable to participate today
and planned to watch a videotape of the ceremony.
T. Glenn Pait, M.D., a neurosurgeon in the UAMS
College of Medicine and the first director of the
Stephens Institute, also praised Jack Stephens’
generosity. He commented earlier that physicians and
researchers at the institute “will help active
patients who develop spine problems remain active and
free of chronic pain, [while] trauma patients can
recover from injury, and sufferers of back pain can
find relief.”
Chancellor Wilson acknowledged Chancellor Emeritus
Harry P. Ward, M.D., for his long leadership of UAMS
and role in establishing the Stephens Institute.
Chancellor Ward was a special guest on the platform at
the topping out ceremony, along with G. Thomas May,
president, University of Arkansas Board of Trustees;
B. Alan Sugg, Ph.D., president, University of Arkansas
System; James Y. Suen, M.D., director of the Arkansas
Cancer Research Center at UAMS and chairman of the
Department of Otolaryngology (Head and Neck Surgery)
in the UAMS College of Medicine; Bill Clark of CDI
Contractors; and Gene Levy of Cromwell Architects and
Engineers.
First Lady Janet Huckabee was a special guest at the
ceremony. Arkansas Senate President Mike Beebe,
Speaker Shane Broadway, Senate President-elect Jim
Hill, Sen. Bob Johnson, former U.S. Rep. John Paul
Hammerschmidt, former Governor Jim Guy Tucker, North
Little Rock Mayor Patrick Henry Hays, Pulaski County
Judge Floyd “Buddy” Villines, and other government
leaders also attended.
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President
Bill Clinton laughed at a joke by Governor Mike Huckabee during the Topping Out Ceremony for the Jackson T.
Stephens Spine and Neurosciences Institute on Feb. 19,
2002. (Amy Theriac)
Governor Mike Huckabee praised Jack Stephens’
“incredible gift” for the institute. (Amy Theriac)
Jackson T. “Steve” Stephens (Amy Theriac)
Warren Stephens (Amy Theriac)
Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D., (third from right) and
other platform guests applaud President Clinton. (Amy
Theriac)
Members of the Stephens family and First Lady Janet
Huckabee (center) (Amy Theriac)
James Y. Suen, M.D., and U.S. Ambassador Vernon Weaver
(Amy Theriac)
T. Glenn Pait, M.D., (third from right) listens to
President Clinton. (Amy Theriac)
From left, center row: Walter Nunnelly and Judy Waller of
the UAMS Foundation Fund Board, Ernest Ferris, M.D., and
Cindi Brinkley of the Foundation Fund Board (Amy Theriac)
President Clinton visited with Arkansas Sen. David Malone,
Arkansas Speaker Shane Broadway, William Clark, and Jay
Gadberry. (Amy Theriac)
Heather Wood was among 100 or more UAMS employees who
signed the ceremonial beam on Friday. (Mike Dupslaff)
President Clinton visited the University of Arkansas for
Medical Sciences as Governor of Arkansas for a
Governor’s Forum in Jeff Banks Student Union on May 14,
1985. (UAMS Library Historical Research Center)
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