2008 Alumni Honors
Willa and John Inman 45M
Every year, some 3,000 babies are born at the Inman Pavilion for Women in Albany, Ga. The pavilion is part of Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, where John Inman Jr. 45M began delivering babies in 1952.
A longtime community leader in Albany, Inman still has strong ties to Emory. He serves on the Board of Advisers for the School of Medicine and has chaired a number of fund-raising drives. He provided funding to name the gate over the walkway leading to the Miller-Ward Alumni House in honor of his family and provided the lead gift to raise $150,000 to name the historic stairwell in the Charles F. and Peggy Evans Anatomy Building for the Class of 1945. For his many efforts, Emory honored him in 2000 with the J. Pollard Turman Award and again in 2008 with the Arnall Patz MD Lifetime Achievement Award, one of three annual awards presented by the Medical Alumni Association. The Patz Award bears the name of the ophthalmologist who saved the eyesight of millions of babies after discovering retinopathy of prematurity.
Arthur Kellermann 80M
Arthur Kellermann 80M is known for taking his concerns right to the top. Two years ago, as a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow in Washington, he helped write a report to Congress highlighting problems and fixes for the nation’s emergency care system. Upon returning to Emory, he resumed teaching and caring for ER patients at Grady Memorial Hospital and became associate dean for health policy in the School of Medicine. For these and other accomplishments, Kellermann received the 2008 Award of Honor from the Medical Alumni Association.
Since joining Emory in 1993, Kellermann established the Center for Injury Control, helped found the Department of Emergency Medicine—which he chaired from 1999 to 2007—and was elected to the Institute of Medicine. He continues to advocate on behalf of uninsured patients at Grady and for improved disaster preparedness in emergency rooms. A popular speaker, he addressed Emory medical graduates in 2008.
W. Virgil Brown (right)
W. Virgil Brown 58Ox 60C once told a group of researchers you could do anything if you know how to run a farm. The Georgia native has held fast to his rural roots during a 40-plus year career for which the Medical Alumni Association honored him with its 2008 Distinguished Medical Achievement Award.
As president of the American Heart Association in the early 1990s, Brown helped raise public awareness about heart-healthy menu items. He joined Emory to direct the arteriosclerosis and lipid metabolism section at The Emory Clinic and subsequently became the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Internal Medicine. Through his research, he helped define how lipase enzymes break down triglycerides for removal from the bloodstream and furthered understanding of how diet and medications alter lipoprotein metabolism to correct high cholesterol. Brown recently retired as chief of the medical specialty care service line at the Atlanta VA Medical Center.
