The new executive director of the University of Arkansas’ $194 million Institute for Integrative and Innovative Research has a new home in Fayetteville.
Ranu Jung and her husband, James Abbas, paid $1.3 million for a 5,078-SF home in the exclusive Savanna Estates subdivision. Jung, a renowned biomedical engineer, was hired in late 2021 to run the institute, which was created after a substantial gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation.
Groundbreaking on the $88 million I3R facility on Dickson Street was held April 1 and construction is expected to be completed by the summer of 2024. The institute’s goal is to develop solutions in partnership with public entities to further economic development and growth.
The executive director’s new home has six bedrooms, 5½ bathrooms and a three-car garage. Abbas, by the by, was an associate professor at Arizona State University for 19 years and is joining his wife at I3R as a biomedical engineering professor.
The Pentagon Federal Credit Union in Tyson, Virginia, provided a $600,000 loan.
The sellers were Buckley and Kim Blew, who acquired the home for $467,000 in 2012. Buckley Brew is the owner of the civil engineering firm Blew & Associates in Fayetteville.
Sign up for Daily E-news
