Team Spirit

Jim Stockdale and UT Nurses basketball alumni

Most hadn’t played a game of basketball in decades, but when former members of the UT Nurses basketball team stepped onto the court in the Student-Alumni Center gym on College of Nursing Alumni Weekend in May, it was like time melted away. Tentative at first, they didn’t take long to cast off doubts in favor of smiles and high-fives as they went from near-misses to baskets. From 1950-1985, the UT Nurses team proudly represented the UT College of Nursing on the basketball court. Players were nursing school students, and the team was co-sponsored by the Memphis Park Commission and the four Memphis-area nursing schools. Jim Stockdale coached the UT team from 1955 through 1981. During Stockdale’s tenure, the team had 333 wins with 151 losses.

A Life Saver

World’s largest mobile stroke unit.
World’s largest mobile stroke unit.

In March, the College of Medicine introduced the world’s first Mobile stroke unit with advanced CT imaging capabilities, including CT angiography imaging for the brain and blood vessels. Because time is everything in treatment of stroke, the van allows for treatment to begin in the field and improves odds of recovery. While similar units have been launched in a few communities, UTHSC’s is the most complete mobile stroke unit in operation. It will be deployed over a 10-mile area of Memphis with the highest incidence of stroke. The 14-ton unit, developed with oversight and direction from Dr. Andrei V. Alexandrov, chair of the neurology department at UTHSC, is funded through a public-private collaboration.

Giving a Smile

Patients get treatment at the free dental clinic
The UTHSC College of Dentistry is on a mission to care for smiles across Tennessee. In February, students, faculty and alumni put that mission into practice as volunteers in the Mid-South Mission of Mercy. The two-day, free dental clinic at Bellevue Baptist Church provided dental cleanings, tooth extractions, fillings and other care to the underserved in Memphis and the surrounding area. Members of the Tennessee Dental Association, Mississippi Dental Association and Arkansas Dental Association, including UTHSC alumni Terry Fiddler (’73), Mitchel Godat (’97), Chuck Wood (’81) and many others, offered their services. The event illustrated the tremendous need for dental care in the community and the generosity and skill of area dentists and healthcare professionals.

Seeing Red, Wearing Orange

Faculty, staff and students turned out for a photo withthe 250 pound RedBall installation
Faculty, staff and students turned out for a photo with the 250-pound RedBall installation

UTHSC got to show school spirit and civic pride on May 2, when the RedBall Project came to campus for the day. RedBall is a unique art installation in the form of a 250-pound red, inflated ball that has traveled the globe, turning up in public places from Paris to Perth, Australia, and Toledo, Ohio, to Toronto. RedBall inspires spectators to photograph, discuss and connect with each other and their cities. RedBall was brought to Memphis by the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art as part of its centennial celebration. It was installed in 10 locations around Memphis before ending a weeklong run. The stop at UTHSC in front of the Student-Alumni Center was the halfway mark in its Memphis travels. Faculty, staff and students turned out for a group photo to show their civic pride. They showed their school spirit, too, by wearing orange.