Under his chairmanship, the UAMS Department of Physiology and Biophysics began receiving extramural grant support for research; increased its faculty recruitment; and awarded six doctoral degrees. The university awarded two of those doctorates to African-Americans – a first at UAMS – and Dr. Rayford played a pivotal role in this achievement.

While at UAMS, Dr. Rayford worked tirelessly and successfully to recruit and retain minority students in the College of Medicine and the Graduate School at UAMS. He traveled throughout Arkansas and spoke to minorities about the university’s academic programs. He established high school and college programs to provide a pipeline of highly qualified minority applicants to UAMS. He served as a counselor, role model, and friend for all minority medical and graduate students.

"Dr. Rayford was an important figure in the American Physiological Society, especially within the Porter Committee, which identifies minority students and financial opportunities for them," said Michael L. Jennings, Ph.D., current chairman of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics.

As a UAMS educator, Dr. Rayford taught in the medical physiology course and consistently received high marks by medical students. He also taught graduate courses, served on several graduate student thesis committees, and trained many postdoctoral fellows.

Dr. Rayford had a highly productive and illustrious career as a gastrointestinal (GI) physiologist. His research focused on the peptide hormones that play critical roles in regulating function of the GI system. Using a technique called radioimmunoassay, he established extremely sensitive methods for measuring GI hormone levels. With this approach, he became the first scientist to show that increased levels of the GI hormone, cholecystokinin, after a meal are directly related to the secretion of digestive enzymes by the pancreas and the contraction of the gallbladder to release bile into the intestine. This is only one of his many fundamental discoveries about peptide hormones in the GI system.

During his career, Dr. Rayford published more than 200 scientific research papers and more than 10 book chapters. Starting in 1982, his research activities were continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He served on several review committees for federal funding agencies, including those for NIH; the National Science Foundation; and the NIH National Institute of Digestive Diseases and Kidney.

Dr. Rayford’s numerous awards include the National Student Medical Association Award for Outstanding Service to Minority Students, Who’s Who in Frontier of Science and Technology, International Who’s Who in Education, and the Arkansas Certificate of Merit.

Dr. Rayford was born July 25, 1927, in Roanoke, Va., to Roosevelt and Eva Rayford. He graduated from Lucy Addison High School in 1944, then joined the U.S. Army and was stationed in the Philippines. After returning to the United States, he earned a bachelor’s degree in biological science at the A&T State University in Greensboro, N.C.

"He wanted to be a doctor, but the schools were not open to African-Americans," said Geraldine Rayford, his wife of 50 years. "He struggled and he worked to become one of the top scientists in the world."

Dr. Rayford studied at Howard University and American University – both in Washington, D.C. – before receiving a master’s degree in zoology from the University of Maryland in College Park. During this time, he conducted cancer research with several prominent researchers at NIH.

He later earned a doctoral degree in endocrinology, physiology and biochemistry from the University of Maryland. Afterward, he went to Accra, Ghana, for the U.S. State Department for 2½ years to help set up a medical school for West Africans.

From 1973 to 1980, Dr. Rayford was on the faculty of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. By 1980, he had worked his way up to assistant dean of medicine, professor and director of the Surgical Biochemistry Laboratory, and professor of biochemistry, human biological chemistry and genetics.

Mrs. Rayford remembers him as "a sensitive, patient man. He was extremely religious. He not only served God, but also people."

Memorial gifts can be made to the Phillip L. Rayford Scholarship Fund in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. Please make checks payable to the UAMS Foundation and send to UAMS Development and Alumni Affairs, 4301 W. Markham St., #716, Little Rock, AR 72205.