Higher education notebook

UALR chancellor’s aide gets new title

A member of the chancellor’s Cabinet at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has a new title.

Joni Lee, previously chief government relations officer, has been named vice chancellor for university affairs.

She will continue to work with government and federal agencies to elevate UALR’s position in the region and keep her current annual salary of $129,629. The title change better reflects her duties on the Cabinet and brings consistency to the group, Chancellor Andrew Rogerson said in a news release.

Lee, 53, has worked for the school for 30 years. She started as a public policy researcher in the Center for Arkansas Initiatives, then worked as part of UALR’s research and public service unit. She became coordinator of university advancement in 1990. In that role, she developed and coordinated a legislative relations program for UALR. In 1999, she was named vice chancellor of university advancement. In 2014, that title was changed to chief government relations officer.

UAMS hires new stroke-care doctor

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has hired a new neurologist specializing in stroke care.

Dr. Kelly-Ann Patrice is an assistant professor of neurology in the UAMS College of Medicine’s Department of Neurology. She treats emergency stroke patients in the UAMS Medical Center and provides post-stroke recovery care in the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute’s Neurology Clinic.

She also treats patients will cerebral blood vessel abnormalities and provides comprehensive testing for referral patients who have had stroke with unidentified causes.

She is one of three stroke specialists at UAMS, which allows the hospital to provide on-staff stroke care 24 hours a day and seven days a week, according to a news release. Her salary is $310,000.

Connecting focus of ASU radio show

KASU-FM, the public radio station of Arkansas State University on Saturday premiered a one-hour weekly radio program titled A-State Connections.

The program will provide information on the ways Arkansas State University is connecting with people in the region, across the state and around the world, according to a news release from the school.

It will broadcast each Saturday at 11 a.m. on 91.9-FM and be streamed at kasu.org. The host is KASU news director Jonathan Reaves. Other KASU staff members will produce content for the radio show.

“There are so many amazing stories to tell regarding the impact that Arkansas State University is making across the region and the state. We want to be able to tell those stories,” Reaves said in the release.

UAPB gets grant to study photonics

Faculty members at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff have received a $735,000 grant from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research to study middle-infrared integrated microwave photonics.

Mansour Mortazavi, vice chancellor of research, innovation and economic development, and assistant professor Seyed Amir Ghetmiri will collaborate with Fisher Yu, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Arkansas, according to a news release from UAPB.

The team will design, make and characterize an integrated photonic chip for high-speed data measurement and communication. Photonics is a field of research that aims to replace electron and electronic circuits with light and photonic circuits to increase the data transfer rate and data processing speed.

The project is being touted as opening new opportunities to extend UAPB’s research capabilities and benefit students who participate in nanoscience and engineering-related research.

SAU names Bara theater director

Southern Arkansas University has named Brittany Bara as its new theater director.

Previously, Bara taught acting, directing, voice and movement, and musical theater performance at the University of Pittsburgh, according to a news release from SAU.

She has a bachelor of fine arts degree in musical theater from Emerson College and a master of fine arts degree in performance pedagogy from the University of Pittsburgh. She has also served as a teaching assistant at Carnegie Mellon University.

“I’ve rarely seen that search committees, administrators and students unanimously agree on one candidate as their top choice as it has been the case with Brittany,” Helmut Langerbein, dean of the College of Liberal and Performing Arts, said in the release. “We look forward to her bringing her talents, experiences and ideas to SAU and Magnolia.”

This fall’s SAU theater schedule includes Next to Normal, Antigone, Unexpected Tenderness and Sister Act.