- University News Archive - UA ��Ƶlogo

- University News Archive - UA ��Ƶlogo /news-archive/tag/arkansas-blue-cross-blue-shield/ UA ��Ƶlogo Thu, 03 May 2018 17:25:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Longtime UA ��Ƶlogo volunteer to receive President’s Award /news-archive/2018/05/03/longtime-ua-little-rock-volunteer-receive-presidents-award/ Thu, 03 May 2018 17:25:44 +0000 /news/?p=70413 ...]]> For Mauri Douglass, the University of Arkansas at ��Ƶlogo holds a special place. It’s where she laid the foundation for a 30-year career in gifted education. It’s where she met her husband, where many of her lifelong friendships first took root, and where her own children would later attend. UA ��Ƶlogo is also where Douglass has remained engaged in community service and why she has been chosen to receive this year’s Presidents Award, which honors alumni who have achieved career success, donated time and talents to their community, and remained in touch with their alma mater as a volunteer and resource. The award will be presented at UA ��Ƶlogo’s Distinguished Alumni Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Friday, May 11, in the Great Hall of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center. Douglass has volunteered hundreds of hours serving on the UA ��Ƶlogo Alumni Association Board. For the past four years, she has chaired Taste of ��Ƶlogo, a signature fundraiser for the university. This year’s event raised more than $138,000 for scholarships. Choosing UA ��Ƶlogo was an easy decision for Douglass (Class of ’74 and ’86). Both of her parents attended the former ��Ƶlogo Junior College, and three of her four siblings also attended. When her older sister, Vicki Draper, attended, the university was called ��Ƶlogo University. Two of Douglass and her husband Lee’s three children have chosen UA ��Ƶlogo for their education. Middle child Jay Douglass has a computer science degree. Daughter Keri Douglass Walker earned an undergraduate degree from Wellesley College in Massachusetts and completed a master’s degree in business information systems at UA ��Ƶlogo in December. The couple’s youngest child, Sam, is a junior at UA Fayetteville. Douglass completed two degrees of her own during her time at UA ��Ƶlogo – an undergraduate degree in elementary education in 1974 and a master’s degree in education in 1986 – as well as a certification in gifted education. “Arkansas was on the forefront of gifted education,” Douglass said. “People were coming from around the country to see what we were doing. It was the place for gifted education, and I was fortunate I was educated here.” Douglass taught for 33 years, including 25 years in gifted and talented education. All but two years of her career were spent in the North ��Ƶlogo School District, including Rose City, Boone Park, Amboy, and Crestwood elementary schools. She credits her long, successful teaching career to the education she received at UA ��Ƶlogo and to the connections she made. Douglass retired from teaching in 2010, and husband Lee retired in December 2017 as chief legal officer at Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield. The couple may not have met had it not been for Greek life at UA ��Ƶlogo. Mauri was a Chi Omega, and Lee was a member of Kappa Sigma. When members are initiated, they receive a chapter pin number based on the order of initiation into the chapter. The couple have the same pin number – 141 – in their respective Greek organizations. “We were meant to be together,” she said matter-of-factly. “We started dating my sophomore year, and we will be married 45 years in June.” Greek life has remained a part of Douglass’ life long after college. After graduation, she served as a Chi Omega chapter advisor for 12 years the first time around. Then, in 2011, she returned for a second round as recruitment advisor and community service advisor. She retired from those positions in 2016 and is now alumnae liaison for the Chi Omega chapter at the UA ��Ƶlogo Alumni Association, her Gamma Zeta chapter sisters, and the ��Ƶlogo Chi Omega Alumnae Club. “I know people across all 54 years of Chi Omega’s presence at UA ��Ƶlogo,” she said. “I can go into any age group and feel like I’m one of them.” When the Chi Omega chapter began planning for its 50th anniversary in 2014, Douglass was asked to chair the event. “The tradition for the 50-year celebration is a gift to the university. That’s how I got really involved at UALR,” Douglass recalled. “During that time, I got to know people in the Alumni Association. They helped us find missing sisters and helped us plan our courtyard.” To raise money, the sorority sold bricks to help build and maintain Chi Omega Courtyard Plaza near Ottenheimer Library. Another fundraising campaign raised money for the Gamma Zeta Scholarship, a $1,000 scholarship awarded each spring to a member of the Gamma Zeta Chapter of Chi Omega. Douglass doesn’t foresee her family’s involvement ending any time soon. “This is where we made so many friendships and connections that have been so helpful, both personally and professionally,” she said. “We love UA ��Ƶlogo and all that it has done for us.” Mauri Douglass is the recipient of the 2018 UA ��Ƶlogo Presidents Award. Photo by Sara Reeves.]]> Cheryl Avants joins Science Dean’s Council /news-archive/2017/09/05/cheryl-avants-science-deans-council/ Tue, 05 Sep 2017 17:12:49 +0000 /news/?p=67790 ...]]> In 2005, Cheryl Avants, clinical pharmacist for national accounts at, went to great heights to provide an education for African children left orphaned by AIDS. She and her husband, Bill Nowlins, a doctor at Arkansas Surgical Hospital, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, as a fundraiser for a program they helped run, Global Alliance for Africa’s Nurses for Africa program. The program provided scholarships for children in Tanzania who were left orphaned by AIDS to attend college and eventually go back to their homes to provide medical care as nurses. “This is where my interest in education stemmed,” Avants said. “This is when I realized that education was a vital concern for everyone, and that civilization does not advance if we don’t educate our members.” Avants has been active in the ��Ƶlogo community, volunteering at organizations like, American Cancer Society, and the Single Parent Scholarship Program. She now spends most of her time volunteering to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education. Avants is giving back by serving on the newly formed Science Dean’s Council at the University of Arkansas at ��Ƶlogo. Council members advocate on behalf of the UA ��Ƶlogo College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences and garner community support for science programs. Their efforts include raising funds for faculty and undergraduate research, the Fribourgh Award receptions, and the Science Olympiad. “I think that STEM education provides a lot of opportunities,” she said. “Having a science background opens the door to a lot of different careers, whether it’s agriculture or healthcare or technology.” In 2010, Avants started serving on the Dean’s Council for the UA ��Ƶlogo College of Science and Math. She also serves on the Science Olympiad Committee, a nationwide organization dedicated to promoting science education through competitive science tournaments. Avants earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She started her career working in pharmaceutical sales and later worked at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, where she helped start pharmacy programs in oncology and neonatal healthcare. In 2002, Avants, then working as a Health Information Designs account manager, decided to go back to school to learn how she could incorporate business skills with her knowledge of pharmacy and healthcare. “This is where I first got interested in the data side of healthcare,” Avants said. “I realized I needed more skillsets to broaden my horizon. I wanted to pick up more business skills and learn about how to apply business skills to a healthcare setting.” So Avants joined the Executive Master of Business Program at UA ��Ƶlogo and took weekend classes to finish her degree. Not only did she learn the business skills needed to get ahead, she also started the next step in her career. “The CIO of UAMS was in my MBA program, and she recruited me to UAMS,” Avants said. “They brought together several software systems, and I was responsible for integrating the pharmacy software into the new system.” Now Avants is putting all the skills she learned throughout her career and education to work at Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield. In her current position, Avants is responsible for supporting care management nurses, helping them develop programs that improve patients’ lives, and providing expertise for patients in policy and insurance coverage decisions. “I came to Blue Cross Blue Shield because this position pulls together everything I have ever done in my career,” Avants said. “The education that I have related to biology and pharmacy and business lets me provide the clinical input to make good, effective policy decisions.”]]>