Willarda V. Edwards

Last updated

Willarda V. Edwards is an American physician and lecturer.

Edwards became interested in medicine as a child. [1] When Edwards was a teenager, she lost her 15-month-old sister due to sickle cell disease. [2] She served as the class secretary in her senior year in high school at Bel Air High School in El Paso, Texas. [3] She earned her bachelor's degree in biology in 1972 from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). [4] In 1977 she earned a medical degree from University of Maryland School of Medicine. [4] Edwards also served in the U.S. Navy at the Bethesda Naval Hospital. [4]

In 1984, she got into private practice. [4] She served as the first African-American woman president of the Baltimore Medical Society in 1995. [5]

Edwards worked as the NAACP national health advocacy director until July 2004 and worked on the "Call to Action on Health" which focused on disparities among minority groups with healthcare in the United States. [2] Edwards was also the president of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America in 2004. [2] In 2009, she became president of the National Medical Association (NMA). [6]

Edwards currently serves on the American Medical Association (AMA) board where she has addressed racism as a threat to public health. [7] [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Paso, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

El Paso is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the U.S., the most populous city in West Texas, and the sixth-most populous city in Texas. The city has also the largest Hispanic population share of main cities in the U.S. with 81% of its population being Hispanic. Its metropolitan statistical area covers all of El Paso and Hudspeth counties in Texas, and had a population of 868,859 in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Texas at El Paso</span> Public university in El Paso, Texas

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American student population after the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity." The university's School of Engineering is the nation's top producer of Hispanic engineers with M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.

The El Paso Times is the newspaper for the US city of El Paso, Texas. The paper is the only English-language daily in El Paso, but often competes with the Spanish-language El Diario de El Paso, an offshoot of El Diario de Juárez which is published across the Rio Grande in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kern Place</span> Place in Texas, United States

Kern Place is a historic neighborhood on the West side of El Paso, Texas. The neighborhood lies just east of the University of Texas at El Paso, and north of downtown. Kern is part of District 1 in the City of El Paso and currently represented by Peter Svarzbein. The neighborhood was created by Peter E. Kern, and once had an unusual gate marking the entrance. Madeline Park in the center of the neighborhood is named after Kern's daughter. Businesses and a small entertainment district border the eclectic housing featured in the neighborhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Brumbelow</span> American football and basketball player and coach (1906–1977)

Lester Michael Brumbelow was an American football and basketball player and coach. He played football and basketball for Texas Christian University from 1927 to 1929 and was the captain and most valuable player of the TCU Horned Frogs undefeated 1929 football team that won the school's first Southwest Conference championship. He later served as an assistant football coach and head basketball coach at TCU from 1936 to 1941. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II in the athletics program at the Navy Pre-Flight School, and attained the rank of lieutenant commander. After the war, he served as an assistant football coach at the University of Mississippi from 1946 to 1948. From 1950 to 1956 he was the head football coach at Texas Western College, now the University of Texas at El Paso; he also served as the school's athletic director from 1950 to 1959.

Kathleen Staudt is a former professor of political science at the University of Texas at El Paso, where she held an endowed professorship for western hemispheric trade policy studies. Her courses focused on topics such as public policy, borders, democracy, leadership and civic engagement, and women and politics. After retiring on September 1, 2017, she became Professor Emerita.

Diana Natalicio was an American academic administrator who served as 10th president of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) from 1988 to 2019. After growing up in St. Louis, Natalicio studied Spanish as an undergraduate, completed a master's degree in Portuguese and earned a doctorate in linguistics. She became an assistant professor at UTEP in 1971, and was named the first female president of the university on February 11, 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosa Ramirez Guerrero</span> Mexican-American educator and artist

Rosa Ramirez Guerrero is a Mexican American educator, artist and historian from El Paso, Texas. She was the founder of the International Folklorico Dance Group. Guerrero has also been active with work in the Catholic Church, and has been called the "Dancing Missionary" in religious circles. She is also known for her multicultural dance programs which have been performed around the country and featured in a film called Tapestry. She was inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame and has an El Paso school named after her.

Josefina Villamil Tinajero is a Mexican-American educator and author. Her work and writing are focused on bilingual literacy, and improving student outcomes in higher education. Tinajero has served as president of the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) and has worked as a professor of bilingual education at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Tinajero later became the dean of the College of Education at UTEP. According to El Diario de El Paso, she is an expert in bilingual education. She is also a member of the El Paso Women's Hall of Fame.

Ingeborg Heuser was a German dancer, choreographer and teacher who worked primarily in the Southwest United States. She is credited with popularizing and promoting ballet in El Paso, Texas.

Drusilla Elizabeth Tandy Nixon was a community activist and music educator in El Paso, Texas.

George Blanton Powell, sometimes referred to as Chuck Powell, was an American football and basketball coach. He served as the head football coach at the Texas School of Mines—now known as the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)—from 1924 to 1926, compiling a record of 11–7–2. Powell was also the head basketball coach at Texas Mines from 1924 to 1926, tallying a mark of 6–13.

The 1964 Texas Western Miners football team was an American football team that represented Texas Western College as an independent during the 1964 NCAA University Division football season. In its second and final season under head coach Warren Harper, the team compiled a 0–8–2 record and was outscored by a total of 217 to 64.

The 1966 Texas Western Miners football team was an American football team that represented Texas Western College as an independent during the 1966 NCAA University Division football season. In its second season under head coach Bobby Dobbs, the team compiled a 6–4 record and outscored opponents by a total of 293 to 187.

Sandra Rushing is an American women's college basketball coach. She has served as head coach at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), Delta State University, and the University of Central Arkansas (UCA). When she left UTEP, she had the best record for women's basketball in the school's history. Rushing was inducted into the El Paso Women's Hall of Fame in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maud E. Craig Sampson Williams</span> African American suffragist, teacher, civil rights leader (1880–1958)

Maude E. Craig Sampson Williams was an American suffragist, teacher, civil rights leader, and community activist in El Paso, Texas. In June 1918, she formed the El Paso Negro Woman's Civic and Equal Franchise League and requested membership in the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) through the Texas Equal Suffrage Association (TESA), but was denied. Williams organized African-American women to register and vote in the Texas Democratic Party primary in July 1918. She was one of the founders and a charter member of the El Paso chapter of the NAACP, which was the first chapter in the state of Texas. Williams served as the vice president of the El Paso chapter from 1917 to 1924 and remained active in the NAACP until her death. Williams played a significant role in the desegregation of Texas Western College in 1955, which was the first undergraduate college in Texas to be desegregated by a court order other than that of the Supreme Court of the United States. Midwestern University (now known as Midwestern State University was previously ordered to desegregate in 1954 by the SCOTUS immediately following the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.

Catherine "Kitty" Burnett Kistenmacher was an American artists from El Paso, Texas in the late 20th century and the early 21st century. Kistenmacher was involved in the creation of the International Museum of Art. She is a 2007 inductee into the El Paso Women's Hall of Fame.

Richard Allen Williams is an American physician who is founder of the Association of Black Cardiologists. He previously served as the President of the National Medical Association.

M. Sue Kurita is an American judge. Kurita graduated from Loretto Academy in 1972. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and a master's degree in counseling from Webster University. During Kurita's first year at Texas Tech University School of Law, she was diagnosed with cancer before Spring Break. Kurita, who was raising her daughter on her own, underwent cancer treatments and the school provided support so she could finish her assignments on time. Kurita graduated law school in 1985. She passed the Texas bar in 1986. In 1998, she was appointed the Judge of the El Paso County Court at Law, No. 6.

References

  1. ↑ Foston, Nikitta (August 2003). "Dual Career Doctors: Doing it All!". Ebony. 58 (10): 68, 71.
  2. 1 2 3 Harris, Anne-Marie (November 2004). "NAACP Focuses on Health Disparities". Crisis. 111 (6): 53–55.
  3. ↑ "Class Officers, Cheerleaders Announced at Bel Air High". El Paso Herald-Post. 1968-05-10. p. 11. Retrieved 2021-12-05– via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "2009 Distinguished Alumni". UTEP Magazine: The University of Texas at el Paso: 15. Fall 2009 – via Issuu.
  5. ↑ Badger, Sylvia H. (1995-12-17). "Medical Society Honors Outstanding Doctors". The Baltimore Sun. p. 122. Retrieved 2021-12-05– via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "UTEP alumn Dr". El Paso Times. 2009-07-27. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-12-05– via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Heath, Sara (2021-06-16). "AMA Cracks Down on Medical Racism, Social Media Misinformation". Patient Engagement HIT. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
  8. ↑ Selko, Adrienne (20 April 2021). "Racism is a Public Health Threat, So What Should EHS Professionals Do?". EHS Today. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.