|
Class of 2002 Michael D. Anderson
Term: 1999–2002
Dr. Anderson was Senior Minister of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City. Under his leadership, the church became the city's most extensive community-based service organization, working to improve the health and welfare of the local community through outreach to schools, nursing homes, and other community facilities. He is presently serving on the Comprehensive Cancer Research and Treatment Center Committee, to which he was appointed by the Speaker of the House of the Oklahoma legislature. He also serves on the Future of Genetics Symposium Committee of the Presbyterian Health Foundation and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He is a co-founding trustee of the Presbyterian Health Foundation, which funds more than 700 programs to improve health and to foster medical research in Oklahoma. Dr. Anderson received his Ph.D. in theology from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, where his studies focused on the relationship between religion and science. In Oklahoma, his interest in aligning these disparate fields led him to organize an influential series of panel discussions about science and religion. Videotapes of the dialogues have been shown at churches throughout the United States. He also attracted some of the nation's most prominent scientists to Oklahoma for a symposium on DNA, genes, and molecular biology, to which 4,000 of the state's brightest high school students were invited. Convinced that "local and global health concerns are cut from a single fabric of life," Dr. Anderson has worked with the United Nations and other world health organizations to provide free eye exams and medical care in Honduras, to assess the critical needs of hospitals in Africa and China, and to evaluate agricultural programs in Kenya. As a member of the COPR, Dr. Anderson served on the NIH Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Review Group (HPSCRG), which was supervised by the Office of Science and Policy. He is married to Joanna Arneson Anderson, a science teacher. The couple has four daughters and several grandchildren.
Melanie C. Dreher
Term: 1999–2002
Dr. Dreher is a nurse and an academic medical anthropologist, and she has held faculty and administrative positions as Dean of Nursing at private and public universities in New York, Massachusetts, Florida, and Iowa. She is currently Dean and Professor at the College of Nursing, University of Iowa, and is one of five deans who comprise the academic leadership of the University of Iowa Health Sciences Center. Her research interests have focused on maternal and child health in underserved and vulnerable populations and on the cultural impact of substance use and abuse, particularly in the West Indies and Jamaica. She also advocates for comprehensive health services and high-quality nursing care for the burgeoning rural elderly population in Iowa. Dr. Dreher previously served as President of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nursing, which has more than 120,000 active members in 400 chapters worldwide, and she developed projects still used by the society today, including a communication network and the "Nursing Leadership in the 21st Century" project, which serves as a framework for the Society's International Leadership Institute. As the godparent of several children from Jamaica, Dr. Dreher has a personal as well as professional sensitivity to the social and health problems that emerge from cultural pluralism.
Pam Fernandes
Term: 1999–2002
Ms. Fernandes is an advocate for people with diabetes and a champion tandem bike racer. She has devoted the last eight years to athletic training and achievement, both for the joy it brings her and to inspire others with serious health problems. At the age of four, Ms. Fernandes was the first member of her family to be diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Several years later, a brother was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, and he eventually died from the disease. Other members of her extended family have also been diagnosed. Because of diabetes, Ms. Fernandes lost her sight when she was 21, spent five years on dialysis to treat diabetes-related complications, and underwent more than 30 operations. In 1987 she had a kidney transplant that changed her life, allowing her to participate more actively in athletics. In 1991 she was encouraged to try tandem bicycle racing. In her first competitive race, Ms. Fernandes and her partner gave it all they had?and finished last. Since then she has been in more than 80 bike races, won national championships every year, and won four international medals. She was named Athlete of the Year for 1994 by the U.S. Olympic Committee. She is a spokesperson for, and was coordinator of, The Hartford's Team Ability, the first corporate-sponsored team of athletes with disabilities, and she helps spread the message that people with disabilities can excel in athletics and other fields. Ms. Fernandes graduated from Wheelock College in Massachusetts and worked for nine years in community relations for the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and for four years at Hartford Life. In 1997, Ms. Fernandes and her partner rode her tandem bike to the top of Mt. Washington; it was the first time a blind cyclist had reached the summit. Pam recently returned from the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games, where she and her partner, Al Whaley, raced their way to both a gold and a silver medal. They also set one world record and two Paralympic records. They are the first tandem team from the United States to ever earn a gold medal or set a world record in Paralympic history.
Joan Lancaster
Term: 1999–2002
Ms. Lancaster lives, works, and volunteers in her hometown of Johnson City, Tennessee, where she focuses on issues affecting underserved and low-income rural Americans, the elderly, and families coping with severe chronic illness. Born and raised in the mountains of East Tennessee, she has a personal and professional understanding of these issues. She and her family are, and have been, coping with chronic life-limiting diseases. She has cared for elderly grandparents and parents in their homes, in her home, and later in nursing homes. Today, as Director of Government Relations at the Mountain States Health Alliance, Ms. Lancaster is a liaison between community health providers and vulnerable people in need of health care. She is assisting her health care system, East Tennessee State University's Division of Health Sciences, the City of Johnson City, the Veterans Administration, and the Public Housing Authority with identifying concentrations of high-risk, chronically ill, and elderly populations in the region as a first step toward selecting sites for new day care centers and health care sites. Two cooperative rural clinics and one in the City of Johnson City have opened to date. As a former regional planning commissioner for the City of Johnson City, Ms. Lancaster sought to expand sustainable job opportunities and to develop new health care initiatives, particularly in the areas of telemedicine, advanced visualization, and biotechnology. She has been involved in the planning and development of the Regional Med-Tech Center, a project that will link the development of health care delivery systems and related research with high technology businesses that serve the health industry and other related businesses. A graduate of East Tennessee State University, Ms. Lancaster has served as a public housing commissioner for the past 17 years. She has also served as a board member of the Children's Advocacy Center, and she currently serves as a public representative on the State Judicial Council. Ms. Lancaster is a sponsor as well as a member of the Steering Committee for the annual Family Re-Union Conference moderated for the past seven years by Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper. This conference is a partnership of The Children, Youth, and Family Consortium of the University of Minnesota and the Child and FamilyPolicy Center at Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy. This year's topic was Families and Seniors.
Roland McFarland
Term: 1999–2002
Mr. McFarland is a broadcast executive and veteran in the field of network television programming. In his career, he has reviewed the content of tens of thousands of hours of television programming, assessing its accuracy, appropriateness for various audiences, and potential for positive or negative impact. The experience has given him in-depth understanding of the interface between messages and their intended audiences, the power of the communications media as a vehicle to reflect contemporary society, and the role that broadcasters can play as corporate citizens. Currently as Vice President for Broadcast Standards and Practices at the FOX Broadcasting Company, Mr. McFarland directs a staff of seven executives who review the content of all FOX prime time and late night programming, as well as ongoing comedy and drama development. His analyses influence the portrayal of sensitive and controversial social or public health issues on Beverly Hills 90210, The X-Files, Party of Five, King of the Hill, The Simpsons, Ally McBeal, That 70's Show, Malcolm In the Middle, Boston Public, Dark Angel, and other FOX series seen by millions of Americans. He has a particular interest in promoting insights into serious health problems affecting the African American community, including hypertension, heart disease, high blood pressure, and prostate cancer. A graduate of San Diego State University, McFarland serves on the boards for the San Diego Film Festival, Boys and Girls Club of America, and Chrysalis Foundation for the Homeless. He is former Chairman of the NAACP's National Image Award and Vice President of the National Committee for Youth Opportunity. He was a jury member for the 1999 PRISM Awards, an initiative sponsored jointly by the Entertainment Industries Council and NIH's National Institute on Drug Abuse to recognize and reward the accurate depiction of drug, alcohol, and tobacco use and addiction in television programming and feature films. He is married to Paulette McFarland, a pre-kindergarten Spanish teacher.
Thomas Vaalburg
Term: 1999–2002
Mr. Vaalburg is a retired health care executive and engineer who contributed to the development and marketing of medical devices, including several heart-lung systems for use in open heart surgery, infusion pump systems, and blood separation devices. Mr. Vaalburg is a graduate of MSG Technical College and of the Instrument Makers School of the University of Leiden in The Netherlands. He began his career as an engineer with a physiology background and held progressively more responsible positions over the years, which culminated in his appointment as Research and Development Manager and later as Business Development Manager for 3M Health Care. In these capacities, he represented 3M on the NIH Artificial Heart Program Contract, working in collaboration with Pennsylvania State University. His business development experience included the evaluation of technologies and businesses resulting in several acquisitions made by 3M.
In addition to his technological and business expertise, Mr. Vaalburg has a strong interest in nursing care and has served on the Nursing Research Advisory Board of the University of Michigan, helping to refine the overall research agenda for the School of Nursing. He has also served on the Advisory Board of the Ann Arbor Community Dental Center, which provides care for needy families and individuals. In retirement, Mr. Vaalburg remains active in community services at Holland Family Hope Ministries in Holland, Michigan, which is a faith-based organization serving the needy. He teaches personal and family finances at this organization. He is also involved with consultant work in the health care field.
|
|