By A.J. Dugger III
Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice will be the keynote speaker at the Sister for Sister Conference and Women of Color Luncheon on March 22, 2014 at The Hilton in Downtown Nashville. The conference is sponsored by the Metropolitan Nashville Chapter of 100 Black Women and The Nashville Coalition of 100 Black Women Foundation, Inc. The theme for the evening will be “Elevating and Sustaining The Legacy of Women in Leadership.”
Rice will become the first female president of The Morehouse School of Medicine on July 1, 2014. She is also making history by being the first African-American woman to lead a freestanding medical school. In addition to becoming president of the school, she will maintain her current position as Morehouse’s dean and executive vice-president as she continues to lead strategic planning initiatives for community engagement, research and patient care while also overseeing the program’s clinical and academic programs. Rice also has a partnership with the University of Zambia where they are working on developing a vaginal microbicide to help prevent HIV.
Originally from Georgia, Rice went to the Georgia Institute of Technology where she earned her bachelor’s degree and later received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. She completed her residency in gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine. At Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pa., she finished her fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility.
Rice also had faculty and administrative appointments at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Rice is also the former director and founder of Nashville’s Center for Women’s Health Research at Meharry Medical College. The established center is one of the country’s first research centers to focus on studying diseases that affect African American women.
Rice played a big part in helping to generate multi-million dollar research grants and other honors such as the Elizabeth Blackwell Award (2011), The National Medical Association’s President’s Citation Award (2013), Recipient of the Working Mother Media Multicultural Women’s Legacy Award (2011) Recipient of the Maternal Infant Health Outreach Program Award (2009 – 2010) The Links, Inc. Portia Searcy Award (2007), American Medical Women’s Association, Vanderbilt University, and The Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker (MIHOW) Mentorship Award in 2009.
According to her bio on the Morehouse School of Medicine’s website (msm.wdu) she became a member of the Society for Women’s Health Research Board Member (2012- 2013), executive committee (2013), National Institute of Minority Health and Disparities and Office of Women’s Health/NIH Board Member (2013-), March of Dimes Board Member (2012-), Association of American Medical Colleges Council of Deans Administrative Board Member (2012-), FDA Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs (2011-), Scientific Committee, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (2007-2011), President’s Commission on White House Fellowships Regional Panelist Selection Committee (2010), Strategic Planning Committee, Office of Women’s Health Research, NIH (2010), Every Life Matters, Every Dollar Counts Campaign – chair, National AIDS Fund Board of Trustees (2009 – 2010), National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities Special Emphasis Panel (2009), National Aids Fund Board of Trustees (2007-2011), Wal-Mart Healthcare Insights Panel – chair (2007-2010), Wal-Mart External Advisory Board (2006-2008) and American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, board examiner (2007-).
Registration for the Sister To Sister Conference and Women of Color Luncheon is $65.00. The event will last from 8 A.M. until 2 pm. For more information, visit www.nashville100bw.org