Cindy Bagwell Crum, Ed.D., the daughter of Melrose Smith Bagwell and Jess “Jay” Thomas Bagwell Jr., was recently elected the new Arkansas president of Colonial Dames 17th Century.
Crum has held positions at the state level of the Daughters of the American Revolution and CD17, according to a news release.
Her career in nursing began at St. Bernards Regional Hospital in Jonesboro in the operating room, where she assisted in opening the new open-heart surgical suite. She also served Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee in the operating room on the trauma team and ended her stint as the total joint specialist, according to the news release.
She returned to Arkansas to begin the open-heart surgical suite at Jefferson Regional Medical Center. After that, she held the position as chairman of the surgical technology program co-sponsored by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.
Her education includes a master’s degree in adult education and a doctoral degree in higher education administration, which led to the position of associate chief nurse for education at CAVHS. Other positions she has held are education and quality improvement nurse. Eventually, she became the chief nursing officer at Stuttgart Regional Medical Center.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
An opportunity to return to academia at Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas in Stuttgart became available. This position was to teach high school students wanting to continue into the medical field. These students obtained concurrent credit for the courses in medical education.
She is married to Bob Crum, and they have two grown children, Jess and Melrose.
Her parents are from Fordyce, where her mother, Melrose Smith Bagwell, is director of the Dallas County Museum.
Her father is now deceased. He was a Missionary Baptist church minister.
Her mother’s love for history and genealogy influenced Crum, according to the release.