Dr. Ronda Henry-Tillman
Internationally-Renowned Surgeon, Oncologist, Teacher, Scientist and Philanthropist | Class of 2023
Dr. Ronda S. Henry-Tillman, M.D., is Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Surgery, Division Chief of the Breast Surgical Oncology Division, and a world-renowned breast cancer surgeon at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute and has been recognized for her contributions in the field of breast cancer surgery. She holds the Muriel Balsam Kohn Chair in Breast Surgical Oncology, an endowed chair which is the result of a gift from the Tenenbaum Foundation, with the primary objectives including to provide humanitarian assistance to residents of central Arkansas, to promote awareness of breast cancer, and to fund research to reduce or eliminate deaths from the disease. Additionally, she serves as Director of Health Initiatives and Disparities Research and Co-Leader of the Diseases Oriented Committee (DOC) on Breast at UAMS. A graduate of University of California San Diego School of Medicine, Dr. Henry-Tillman completed her surgical residency at UAMS, as well as fellowship training with the UAMS fellowship in Diseases of the Breast and was then invited to join the surgical faculty team where she has served since 1999, as well as in many leadership capacities.
Dr. Henry-Tillman has made a strong academic presence, having authored or co-authored at least 81 medical journal articles and numerous book chapters. In a partnership with Friends of Africa and the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, she has developed an early detection program for breast cancer and has established a breast surgery training program and provided lifesaving procedures at the University of Zambia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital in Kinshasa.
Among her plethora of distinguished honors and recognitions, Dr. Henry-Tillman was appointed to the Breast Cancer Control Advisory Board by Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe and reappointed by Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and appointed to the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission by Governor Hutchinson; has served as the Society of Surgical Oncology Disparities Committee Chair; and National Accreditation for Programs and Breast Centers (NAPBC) board member; Co-chair of the Breast Cancer Control Advisory Board for the state of Arkansas; member of the Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health and the Minority Institutions Collaborative Cancer Center Grants Review Committee; and was recognized as honoree for the 2022 UAMS Dr. Edith Irby Jones Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Lifetime Achievement.