LITTLE ROCK -- James M. Raczynski, PhD, dean of the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), was invested in April as the inaugural recipient of the M. Joycelyn Elders, MD, Chair in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.

Raczynski, professor and founding dean of the College of Public Health since 2002, has focused the college's mission on health promotion and disease prevention to improve quality of life for entire communities.

The chair is named in honor of Elders, a UAMS emeritus professor of pediatrics and distinguished professor of public health who served as the 15th U.S. surgeon general under then-President Bill Clinton from 1993-1994. She was the first African-American, second woman and first Arkansan appointed to the post. Several hundred individual donors contributed to the funding of the chair to honor her legacy.

Raczynski was presented with a commemorative medallion and thanked all the donors who helped establish the chair.

During Raczynski's time as dean, the College of Public Health was accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health in a record two years. It expanded from four initial faculty members to 59, and from 90 graduate students to 270, spread across 24 different education programs.