The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is a public medical school in Little Rock, Arkansas. The eight founding physicians were led by Dr. P. O. Hooper of Little Rock, and the street where many patients and visitors now enter the UAMS campus is named in his honor. UAMS was transformed from a small medical school with a charity hospital into an academic health center and research leader under the direction of Dr. Harry P. Ward, who served as chancellor from 1979 to 2000. The Harry P. Ward Tower, which opened in 1997, is named in his honor. Dr. Ward was succeeded as chancellor by Dr. I. Dodd Wilson in 2000. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock is the only health sciences university in the state of Arkansas. We are the state's largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees in 73 of Arkansas' 75 counties.