The Alice L. Walton School of Medicine on Monday announced the appointment of nine board members, including board chair Dr. Lloyd Minor, dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Minor, a Little Rock native, will provide board leadership, oversight of committees and will advise senior leadership at the new four-year school. The 154,000-SF school in Bentonville, which will be located on the campus of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, plans to welcome its inaugural class in 2025.
Prior to Stanford, Minor was provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Johns Hopkins University. He's a scientist, surgeon and professor of bioengineering and neurobiology. In 2012, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.
"Dr. Minor brings a research and student-centered approach to his leadership that will guide our School in facing the health care challenges of the 21st century," school founder Alice Walton said in a news release. "I am grateful for his commitment to the School’s vision, along with the other nationally-respected board members who share a passion for medicine, whole health, higher education, and innovation."
The other board members are:
- Alice Walton
- Dr. Patrick Conway, CEO of Optum Care Solutions
- Steve Nelson, co-founder of Carbon Inc.
- Dr. Kate Hobbs Knutson, CEO of Optum Behavioral Health
- Dr. Marc Nivet, executive vice president for institutional advancement at the University of Texas’ Southwestern Medical Center
- Dr. Cheryl Pegus, partner at Morgan Health in Washington, D.C.
- Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, president and CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta
- Dr. James “Jim” B. Young, professor of medicine and executive dean at the Cleveland Clinic
The school, founded as the Whole Health School of Medicine, will offer a degree-granting program that integrates conventional medicine with holistic principles and self-care practices.
A national search for the dean of the school is underway.
In August, the school announced the hiring of four administrators: Lisako McKyer was named the vice dean of faculty affairs and diversity, equity and inclusion; Yerko Berrocal was named the assistant dean of foundational sciences; Kevin Kunkler was hired as director of educational technology; and Jasmin Bland was appointed the director of curriculum management.
