The UAMS College of Nursing in 2025 was saddened by the losses of two distinguished alumni: Nancy Jo Smith, BSN, RNP, UAMS’ director of Special Services, and Michael Carter, DNSc, DNP, FAAN, longtime dean of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Nursing.
Nancy Jo Smith
Smith passed away Aug. 28 at age 73. In a career that spanned nearly 50 years, she touched the lives of thousands of patients and was beloved by her UAMS colleagues and friends.
After graduating from the College of Nursing as part of its first nurse practitioner program, she went on to serve as a nurse in the UAMS Emergency Medicine and Orthopaedics Departments. In 2002, she became director of Special Services at UAMS, transforming the department into a vital resource for patients who needed help navigating the health care system.
Smith was widely recognized for the kindness and compassion she showed to patients, whether she was sitting by their bedsides, arranging appointments or comforting their loved ones. She received numerous awards and distinctions during her career at UAMS, and the second-floor surgery waiting area of UAMS Medical Center is named in her honor.
Michael Carter
Carter passed away June 17. After earning his Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from UAMS in 1969, Carter in 1973 was part of the first class of graduates from the Master of Nursing Science program.
He served his country in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during the Vietnam War, and he later completed a fellowship in primary care health policy for the U.S. Public Health Service. As a nursing educator, Carter held a variety of leadership roles, most notably as dean of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Nursing from 1982-2000.
Carter was an accomplished educator and mentor, guiding students and faculty members as they advanced in their careers. He also remained an ardent supporter of the UAMS College of Nursing. In 2020, he and his family — wife Sarah Carter, M.D., a UAMS alumna, and daughter Elizabeth Carter, J.D., LL.M. — committed $500,000 to establish an endowed scholarship for doctoral students in the college.