Melissa Carol Parker Taverner - Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Melissa Taverner's emotion of biology stems from its elegant complexity.

"When you look astatine a biologic system, whether it's a compartment oregon an organism oregon an ecosystem, you're looking astatine a complex, multi-factor strategy that, the mode it interacts, creates an emergent spot for cells," she says. "It's a beauteous thing. It's hard and it's analyzable and there's inactive a ton that we don't know."

Taverner's statement of the subject she adores is wrought with symbolism.

Since being named president of Lyon College successful Batesville successful February, Taverner has been progressive successful forging analyzable partnerships among the backstage college, the backstage Little Rock-based OneHealth and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to make the state's lone dental and veterinarian schoolhouse connected the Heifer International field successful Little Rock.

"That's not a assistance we tin bash connected our own, but I don't cognize anybody who tin bash that assistance connected their own," says Taverner of the unsocial collaboration. "It's the happening that's going to let america to beryllium palmy due to the fact that we tin beryllium precise nimble. We tin marque decisions, we tin enactment unneurotic to make things."

Taverner was hired arsenic provost and dean of module astatine Lyon successful 2017, astir a twelvemonth earlier joining discussions astir the imaginable and logistics of veterinary and dental schools.

"We started doing immoderate probe connected it and we benignant of enactment unneurotic a connection internally to deliberation through, 'Would this marque sense?'" she says. "And past covid happened."

The thought was enactment connected a backmost burner until 2021, erstwhile Lyon -- which celebrated its 150th twelvemonth this twelvemonth -- began looking astatine ways to summation enrollment. Andy Goodman, president and main enforcement serviceman of Arkansas Independent Colleges and Universities, helped link them with the leaders of OneHealth, who were besides mulling implicit starting veterinary and dental schools.

"They told america a small spot astir what they were reasoning for the dental schoolhouse and the vet school, which was much of a distributed exemplary and a three-year model, which is year-round alternatively than a four-year model, truthful there's outgo containment for students, and introducing nonstop objective experiences earlier successful their training," Taverner says. Conversations progressed, some sides conceded and readying began successful earnest.

REINVENTING EDUCATION

Skip Rutherford, a Batesville autochthonal and a subordinate of the Lyon College Board, marvels astatine however having arsenic galore arsenic 1,000 much young professionals successful downtown Little Rock year-round mightiness respire beingness into the area. Rutherford is dean emeritus of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, which is adjacent to Heifer International and which breaks for summertime each year.

The effect the nonrecreational way mightiness person connected Lyon College is besides significant, Rutherford says.

"The summation of dental and veterinary schools volition beryllium important chapters successful Lyon College's storied history," helium says. "As idiosyncratic erstwhile said, acquisition has to beryllium invented and reinvented for each generation. Lyon is doing that done expanding exemplary world programs connected its beauteous Batesville field and adding nonrecreational dental and vet programs successful the state's superior city. It's a winning operation for Arkansas."

Taverner expects the schools to invited students successful 2024 oregon 2025, though that timing is taxable to gathering assorted goals on the way.

"We're not rushing anything. We're doing it right," she says. "We privation to beryllium precise cautious to accidental that the day of opening, the archetypal people size, those sorts of things are thing that we enactment retired with our accreditor, and they person the eventual work for that."

Taverner sees this effort arsenic filling a need. Arkansas has a shortage of dentists and of small-animal veterinarians arsenic good arsenic vets who specialize successful cultivation practices.

"It's exciting," she says. "At each measurement we person been precise deliberate astir however to marque this successful, truthful that we tin bid vets and dentists to enactment successful Arkansas, alternatively than permission due to the fact that the information bespeak that radical who spell to nonrecreational school, whether it's med school, dental schoolhouse oregon whatever, thin to enactment wherever they train."

WICKED SENSE OF HUMOR

Perry Wilson, president of Lyon's committee of trustees and a lawyer astatine the Barber Law Firm successful Little Rock, approached Taverner, past provost, astir taking the helm astatine Lyon aft the resignation of W. Joseph King successful August 2021.

"She is absolutely, without a doubt, 100% the close idiosyncratic astatine the close clip for Lyon College, with everything we're doing," helium says. "That's based connected her background, it's based connected the information that she's an world -- she didn't needfully mean to ever beryllium president of a college, but due to the fact that of circumstances that occurred she became the close person, due to the fact that of the initiatives we've been looking at."

Wilson appreciates Taverner's "wicked consciousness of humor," which helium says was evident successful her inauguration speech, erstwhile she told the assemblage that she had not aspired to the office.

She took a tenure way presumption teaching biology astatine Emory and Henry College successful Emory, Va., erstwhile the oldest of her 2 daughters was 2.

"It was doing research, moving with students, each that benignant of stuff. Year three, my elder workfellow said, 'I don't privation to beryllium seat anymore. You're chair.' I said, 'What? I'm not qualified,'" she says. "I ended up exploding the program, increasing it truthful that we went from six graduates to 20, went from 3 module members to six, and I said, 'Good. OK. I tin bash this. I've learned however to fund and bash paperwork and however to articulate with the different programs.'"

She was granted tenure, and past the dean asked her to service arsenic manager of assessment.

"I'm a bully squad subordinate truthful I said alright," says Taverner, who continued serving arsenic seat of the biology department.

From determination she became part seat of earthy sciences, and erstwhile the dean became president of the assemblage helium asked her to service arsenic interim vice president of pupil affairs.

"I've had this opportunity, astatine a fig of antithetic steps, wherever I was fixed a accidental to bash thing that I didn't expect to do, but I went into it with the cognition that radical would enactment me, and that if I didn't cognize thing radical would assistance maine learn," she says.

She considers herself fortunate.

"I benignant of picture it arsenic a ladder, but not a vocation ladder -- a position ladder," she says.

Each role, she explains, gave her a broader presumption of the mode assorted components wrong a assemblage work.

"It comes backmost to the organism, the analyzable interplay of each these pieces, and you get this emergent spot of an instauration that's going to alteration people's lives," Taverner says.

SMALL TOWN GIRL

Taverner grew up successful the tiny municipality of Danville, successful the Piedmont portion of Virginia, the lone kid of a market store nutrient manager and a teacher.

"My dada was astir apt 1 of the astir societal radical successful the satellite that I ever saw. He worked astatine a tiny locally owned store, and radical would travel to this store due to the fact that they knew helium would beryllium there," she says. "He would springiness everybody a hug and say, 'Here, fto maine amusement you what I've got going on.'"

Her maternal grandparents and 2 aunts lived adjacent by, and Taverner and her parents ate meal with them often. Her grandparents picked her up from schoolhouse immoderate days and she wandered done their two-acre plot with her grandfather.

"I've ever loved science," she says. "I was a kid, similar a first- oregon second-grader, erstwhile the Apollo ngo landed connected the satellite and my ma was ever a immense protagonist of each things science-y, which was truly cool. So I thought, 'I conscionable privation to beryllium an astronaut. I emotion subject and I emotion learning astir things.' And past I deed seventh people and biology and that was it. I was like, 'Oh, yeah, I emotion that stuff.'"

She intended to beryllium a pre-medicine large astatine Randolph-Macon Woman's College successful Ashland, Va., but by the extremity of her freshman twelvemonth she realized that was not the way for her.

"I didn't truly privation to bash medicine, I conscionable wanted to bash biology," she says.

She wasn't definite what she would bash with her grade successful biology but she stuck with it.

"I deliberation that was either truly insightful oregon truly goofy, but you spell into thing and you survey it due to the fact that you emotion it, and that's benignant of what I did," she says. "I didn't cognize that I loved microbiology until I took it, and I took it due to the fact that I thought that sounded fun, past I was like, 'Whoa.' And past I took a subsection of that, virology."

LEARNING TO ROW

She became funny successful virology portion she was studying overseas during her inferior twelvemonth astatine the University of Reading successful England. She aboriginal completed a master's grade successful virology astatine Reading.

Taverner learned to enactment unit during her clip successful England.

"We were rowing connected the Thames, due to the fact that Reading is astir 30 miles westbound of London and the Thames conscionable goes done there. It was neat to effort that," she says. "We did immoderate traveling astir England and Scotland and Wales and we went to Penzance."

She met her husband, David, there, too. He returned to Virginia with her astatine the extremity of her survey overseas twelvemonth and they joined a period later, conscionable earlier her elder twelvemonth astatine Randolph-Macon.

Taverner was 1 of astir 30 Americans successful a group, says David Taverner.

"I conjecture we were some quiet," helium says. "I deliberation we would, conscionable the 2 of us, benignant of bent backmost a spot and we conscionable connected successful that way."

He inactive characterizes her arsenic "quiet," though her existent presumption puts her much successful the nationalist eye.

"She's a genuine idiosyncratic and she's focused connected the occupation astatine hand. She's ever reasoning astir making connections and however to marque things hap with the institution, however she tin get radical unneurotic to marque the adjacent happening happen," helium says.

Waking up aboriginal to walk clip outside, often walking the dogs, gives her a accidental to constitute herself for the day, helium says.

"We person household time, truthful we're quiescent unneurotic and spell retired and bash what we do," helium says. "I deliberation it's conscionable recharging."

They person been unneurotic for 40 years. Their daughters are Rachel Titus of Lansing, Mich., and Jordan Taverner of Estes Park, Colo.

After she finished college, Taverner worked successful crab research, studying oncogenic retroviruses associated with crab for 2 oregon 3 years and though she says "that was amusive and I would ne'er person traded that for the world," she realized that wasn't the close way for her either.

She went to the University of Virginia astatine Charlottesville, Va., for a doctorate successful biology science.

"I was funny successful colonisation regulation," she says. "I worked connected insects arsenic population, and truthful viruses arsenic biologic power agents."

All of her probe positions led her to the 1 astatine Emory and Henry, and she recovered her niche successful academics.

RECRUITING NURSES

Joseph "Jody" Smotherman is enforcement vice president and main strategy serviceman astatine White River Health successful Batesville arsenic good arsenic a Lyon alumnus, and says Taverner was cardinal successful Lyon's determination to adhd a bachelor of subject successful nursing, successful effect to needs expressed by his employer, adjacent earlier she became president.

"One of the things that I admit astir her is her willingness to effort caller things. Lyon College and White River Health, wherever I work, person established a concern with her arsenic provost and interim president," Smotherman says. "She's precise community-minded and family-oriented. She's precise approachable and radical who get to cognize her find her casual to speech to and prosecute with, which is not ever a trait successful a assemblage president. Folks present successful our assemblage perfectly emotion her."

Smotherman and White River Health Chief Executive Officer Gary Paxon worked with Taverner to get the archetypal accreditation for the program.

"In an country similar ours, erstwhile you enlistee nurses to enactment here, the opportunities they had for acquisition and further grooming were not local. They either had to determination determination oregon they had to bash it online," helium says. "It was a tendency to springiness section nurses an accidental to further their acquisition locally and connected a flexible docket the non-traditional way, but besides for those students to enactment here, astatine Lyon, which has a large world reputation."

Ginger Long-Smith of Springdale is president of the Lyon College Board of Visitors and a 1993 Lyon College graduate. She archetypal met Taverner, past provost, portion touring the field with her daughter, present a elder astatine Lyon.

"One of the things astir Lyon College is not conscionable that you're going to person a dental and veterinary school, oregon their acceptance complaint to aesculapian schoolhouse -- which is precise precocious -- they besides person large acceptance into instrumentality schools and grad schools," says Long-Smith, explaining wherefore her girl chose the school.

She talks with Taverner often, occasionally touching connected their shared affinity for "Star Trek."

"When I was delivering my code astatine her inauguration, I jokingly said I had truthful wanted to crook to her and springiness her the Star Trek awesome of 'Live agelong and prosper,'" Long-Smith says. "She said, 'Oh, delight bash it.'"

"The assemblage has gone done transformations implicit the years, immoderate good, immoderate atrocious ... but with that said, erstwhile you ticker her and her imaginativeness that she has for the assemblage you tin spot the passion, you tin spot the forward-thinking and you tin spot she's taking america into the future," Long-Smith adds.

Long-Smith, manager of planetary controllership astatine Walmart, is pleased that the assemblage is expanding its accounting program.

Lyon's archetypal postgraduate programme -- a maestro of arts successful teaching -- volition besides beryllium disposable adjacent summer.

"I travel from a household of teachers, and my ma has 32 years teaching 4th grade. She's the astir earthy teacher I've ever seen successful my life," Taverner says. "I was precise fortunate to person been capable to ticker her."

Taverner misses teaching biology, but she does thatch a freshman seminar people each year. She says that gives her a accidental to support a transportation with students and shows them she cares astir teaching.

"The important happening for maine was being capable to speech to my students and amusement them the things that I loved, and to bash that with immoderate passionateness and with excitement," she says of teaching her favourite subject, "because I'm inactive excited by biology."

SELF PORTRAIT

Melissa Taverner

• A BOOK I RECENTLY READ AND LIKED WAS: "Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator," by Timothy C. Winegard.

• MY MOST PRECIOUS CHILDHOOD MEMORY: I was astir apt 5 oregon 6 and I was astatine the formation with my full family. My dada was the 1 who would instrumentality maine into the h2o and there's a representation of maine and my dada and he's holding my hand, close arsenic the waves are breaking.

• A MEAL I FIND COMFORTING: Potato crockery and caller bread.

• THE TRADITION I LOVE MOST: Professionally, commencement. People are graduating with a grade and they're going to spell disconnected and bash awesome things. Personally, Christmas -- our household has Christmas crackers, with dada jokes and hats and things.

• THE BEST TIME OF DAY FOR ME: Early morning. I emotion mornings due to the fact that I emotion the information that the prima came back. Mornings are beauteous to me. It's similar there's inactive bully that's going to happen.

• MY FAVORITE PLACE ON EARTH: The Sangre de Cristo Mountains successful confederate Colorado.

• THE BEST ADVICE I EVER GOT: A twelve radical implicit the people of my beingness person said, "You request to calm down. It's gonna beryllium OK."

• IF I COULDN'T BE A COLLEGE PRESIDENT, I WOULD BE: Teaching biology determination and moving with students to assistance them make their probe projects and enactment connected laboratory reports oregon prepping the adjacent micro lab.

• ONE WORD TO SUM ME UP: Collaborative