For the first time in its 150-year history, Lyon College will hold a commencement ceremony to celebrate fall graduates.
Dr. Jody Smotherman (pictured below), executive vice president and chief strategy officer at White River Health and member of the Lyon College Board of Visitors, will serve as the guest speaker for the ceremony, which will be Saturday, Dec. 10, at 8:30 a.m. in the Sloan Auditorium of Brown Chapel on the Lyon College campus, 2300 Highland Road, Batesville. Smotherman’s address is entitled “A Short Long Time.”
Additional platform participants at the commencement ceremony include Marvin McCalman, 2016 Lyon College graduate and president of the Lyon College Alumni Council; Alyssa Buentello, senior class president; Dr. Melissa P. Taverner, Lyon College president; Dr. Anthony K. Grafton, Lyon College provost; Dr. Terrell Tebbetts, Lyon College’s Martha Heasley Cox Chair in American Literature; Dr. Jeremy Chapman, associate professor of mathematics and vice chair of the Lyon College Faculty Council; and Rev. Margaret Alsup, ’11, Lyon College chaplain.
“We are so pleased to have Dr. Smotherman offering the address at our first-ever fall commencement ceremony,” said Dr. Taverner. “As a medical professional, pastor and Lyon College alumnus, Dr. Smotherman offers a unique perspective that serves as an inspiration to our students and future graduates.”
Dr. Taverner said Smotherman, Gary Paxson, and the team at White River Health have been instrumental in developing a new Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree that will launch next year at Lyon College.
“We are excited to partner with White River Health and the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville to bring this much-needed healthcare degree opportunity to our Batesville community and the region,” Dr. Taverner said.
A 1993 graduate of Lyon College, Smotherman received a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 1997 and a Master of Divinity in Biblical Studies from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in 2001. He joined White River Medical Center in 2003 as a pharmacist. He was named director of pharmacy in 2006, director of quality in 2010, director of the Hospitalist Program in 2014, and associate administrator of Graduate Medical Education (GME) in 2015. He was promoted to vice president of community engagement and GME in 2019 and named executive vice president and chief strategy officer in 2020.
Smotherman received the Innovative Pharmacist of the Year award in 2016-2017 from the Arkansas Pharmacist Association for developing a Graduate Medical Education program in a rural community.
Smotherman serves as elder/pastor of discipleship at Compass South Church. He also serves on the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, the Board of Trustees of Williams Baptist University, and the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville Board of Visitors.
He and his wife, Jami, have three daughters: Emma, Lauren, and Tessa.
Rev. Alsup will preside over the fall 2022 baccalaureate service on Friday, Dec. 9, at 5 p.m. in Sloan Auditorium of Brown Chapel.
Image and information provided by Lyon College
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