Contacts:
Sarah Goodwin

Kathi Ovnic
Holly Korschun
June 1, 1998
GEORGIA WOMEN PIONEERS IN HEALTH CARE HONOREES INCLUDE MANY ASSOCIATED WITH EMORY


Among the 50 extraordinary women honored during Women's History Month as Georgia "Women Pioneers in Health Care" were several nurses, midwives, doctors, medical researchers and other health care professionals associated with Emory University.

The women were selected by the Georgia Women's History Month Committee and the Georgia Commission on Women to represent "women who have made pioneering or significant contributions to health care in Georgia."

"As a member of the Georgia Women's History Month Committee for 1998, I was extremely proud to see such a large number of Emory women professionals nominated, says Rose Cannon, R.N., Ph.D., professor of nursing at Emory's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing "This representation is evidence of the importance of Emory University as an institution that has contributed in meaningful ways to the larger community."

Emory honorees include the following (full list of winners is included on attached program):

SHARON BAKER, R.N.C., M.N., a master's of nursing graduate and former faculty member of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing of Emory University, developed Georgia State University's first nurse practitioner program in 1980.She founded and was first executive director of the Women's Center at Floyd Medical Center, and in 1991, she founded the Women's Information Network Inc., an organization dedicated to educating and empowering women through information and interaction. (Rome)

BETTY COME BLAKE, R.N., has served as director of nursing at Grady Memorial Hospital since 1979. During her years in the nursing profession, she has held numerous leadership positions, including president of the Georgia Board of Nursing from 1986-91. (Fayetteville)

DOROTHY BRINSFIELD, M.D., is executive associate dean of the Emory University School of Medicine. When she began practicing pediatric cardiology some 30 years ago, she had few women peers. (Chamblee)

MELANIE KERNEKIN BROOKER, a bachelor's of science in nursing graduate from Emory's school of nursing, she founded the Human Development Research Council formerly known as Georgia Nurses for Life. (Atlanta)

BEADIE CAMBARDELLA, R.N., IBCLC, has been a Georgia pioneer in breast feeding education and legislation. In 1980, she served on the Georgia Task Force for Breast Feeding and was part of the delegation to the advise the U.S. Senate on breast feeding issues. She was highly instrumental in the founding of the Lactation Center at Northside Hospital and she has served on the Steering Committee of the Breast Feeding Conference sponsored by Emory for the past 20 years. (Atlanta)

CAMILLE DAVIS-WILLIAMS, M.D., is clinical chief of Obstetrics at Crawford Long Hospital of Emory University and practices gynecology/obstetrics at Greater Atlanta Women's Healthcare. She recently wrote the health status report for the African-American women's delegation to the United Nations Decade of Women observance. (Lithonia)

ADA FORT, R.N., Ed.D., a former Methodist missionary, is largely responsible for bringing the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University to the forefront of nursing education. The graduate nursing program she developed at Emory was the first in Georgia. She served as dean of the nursing school at Emory from 1949-76. (Atlanta)

BEVERLY CATHERINE FOSTER, was the first African-American women to be admitted into Emory University's Critical Care and Intensive Respiratory Care Program and was one of the first African-American women to earn a master's of medicine degree in Anesthesia and Life Support Systems. (Decatur)

KATHLEEN KINLAW, M.Div., is associate director of the Center for Ethics in Public Policy and Professions at Emory University. She has written extensively on prenatal and neonatal ethics, ethics and medical education, and the work of ethics committees at health care institutions. She co-directs the required Clinical Ethics course at the Emory University School of Medicine. (Atlanta)

LUELLA KLEIN, M.D., is director of the Emory University OB/GYN program at Grady Memorial Hospital. During her tenure as chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Emory University School of Medicine she was the only female department chair within the medical school and one of relatively few in the nation. She is a past president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (Atlanta)

EVANGELINE T. PAPAGEORGE, Ph.D., received a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Michigan in 1941. Just 15 years later she was appointed assistant dean of the Emory University School of Medicine. Many Emory students have been aided by funds from the scholarship fund named for Dr. Papageorge. (Atlanta)

JEANNIE P. PERRYMAN, R.N., PhDc, is dedicated to the field of organ donation and organ transplantation. She currently is director of the Transplantation Center at Emory University Hospital, one of the most active centers in the nation. She chaired the Politics of Caring II interdisciplinary conference convened at Emory in 1992. (Roswell)

ELIZABETH S. SHARPE, R.N., Dr.P.H., was among the first four nurse midwives to practice in Georgia. She directed the state's first midwifery service at Grady Memorial Hospital and founded the first program to prepare nurse midwives at Emory's nursing school. She is a past-president of the American College of Nurse Midwives. (Atlanta)

NANETTE KASS WENGER, M.D., is professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at the Emory University School of Medicine and director of the Cardiac Clinics at Grady Memorial Hospital. Nationally, she has been an outspoken advocate for increased medical research geared toward women and is an authority on how heart disease affects women differently than men. She was the first woman named president of the Georgia affiliate of the American Heart Association (AHA), and had held local and national offices for AHA and the American College of Cardiology. In 1994, Dr. Wenger was named

"One of the 10 Most Important Women in Medicine" by Ladies Home Journal and was recognized by McCall's magazine for her research into causes and treatments for heart disease in women. She has been recognized as Atlanta Woman of the Year in Medicine and cited in Time magazine's Woman of the Year issue.

MARY FLORES WOODY, R.N., received the American Academy of Nursing's Living Legend Award in 1997. Ms. Woody, former director of nursing at Emory University Hospital, has been an exceptional educator and caregiver, but is widely known for her contributions to nursing administration. She is attributed with changing the way hospitals hire and support their nursing staffs. She was dean of nursing at Auburn University and acting dean of nursing at Emory. (Atlanta)

Honorees were presented with their awards March 10 by Georgia Secretary of State Lewis A. Massey at a reception attended by more than 200 people. Rosalynn Carter, Jane Fonda and First Lady of Georgia Shirley Miller were on the list of honorees.

Women's History Month began as a local celebration in Sonoma County, Calif., in 1977. Interest spread to so many states that Congress in 1989 designated March of every year as National Women's History Month. Gov. Zell Miller issued again this year a proclamation recognizing March as Women's History Month in Georgia.

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For more general information on The Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center, call Health Sciences Communication's Office at 404-727-5686, or send e-mail to hsnews@emory.edu.


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