Wall Resigns as Urban Child Board Chair

The Urban Child Institute headquarters building.

Dr. Hershel “Pat” Wall has resigned his post as chairman of The Urban Child Institute (TUCI) board, according to Memphis Daily News.

Wall tendered his resignation to the board on Wednesday, Dec. 23, according to the newspaper. 

UTHSC

Wall

Wall is the second high-ranking official to leave TUCI this year. Longtime president and CEO Eugene Cashman announced his retirement earlier this month. 

TUCI has long been criticized in the community for sitting on a large investment fund but giving little of it to Memphis charities that actually help children ages 0-3 years, the group of children TUCI focuses its research work.

The nonprofit organization has also been criticized for paying Cashman a top of the line salary.  

When asked about TUCI’s finances earlier this year, Wall said, “I don’t see the books,” and said he was only “vaguely aware of how much money they’ve got and how much they give out.”

He said he depended on the financial savvy of other members of the board to review Cashman’s “very open and transparent management of the money.”

“I can imagine what folks might be thinking about, that Gene is making a lot of money and he’s not spending as much as he ought to be in the community,” Wall says. “But I don’t think that’s the case.”
 
Wall is a former chancellor of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and is currently a special assistant to University of Tennessee president Joe DiPietro.