Excellence among women in medicine is the focus of the fifth anniversary ceremony of the ‘Notable Women of ETSU’ program at East Tennessee State University.
The 2006 Notable Women – Drs. Theresa Lura and Mary Hooks of ETSU’s James H. Quillen College of Medicine – will be honored in an awards ceremony on Monday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. in the D.P. Culp University Center Ballroom.
During the program, Lura and Hooks will reflect on the achievements that led them to be named “Notable Women.”
“Instant Pattern Recognition: How an Art Major Became a Pathologist” will trace Lura’s transformation from a student of the arts to an accomplished doctor of medicine.
“A direct relationship between art and medicine might not be obvious, but much of medicine is visual,” said Lura, assistant dean of women in medicine and clinical assistant professor in the Department of Pathology. “Throughout anatomy, if I could draw what we were studying, I knew it.”
As an East Tennessean working in the Yale community, Lura learned how quickly patients could get an appointment with a medical specialist when needed.
She then made it her goal to do whatever she could to provide the same quality and availability of health care for the people of this region.
Hooks, an associate professor in the Department of Surgery who completed her medical studies in Pennsylvania, will describe how she made her way here in, “My Journey to East Tennessee and How I Became a Notable Woman.”
“ETSU offered a unique opportunity to care for a wide variety of oncology patients,” she said. “I was also drawn to ETSU by the gracious nature of the people I met when I came here to interview.”
Hooks credits many of her successes to her upbringing. “Being born into a great, nurturing family set a standard of consistent hard work and going above and beyond expectations,” she said.
What started as a simple presentation ceremony within ETSU’s Women’s Studies Program has quickly developed into a recognized occasion for distinguished women in the area.
“This event has grown immensely over the past five years and has honored only a handful of the remarkable and accomplished women at ETSU,” said Dr. Amber Kinser, director of Women’s Studies.
In addition to Lura and Hooks, previous Notable Women of ETSU will be recognized and honored as part of the fifth anniversary.
A 6:30 p.m. reception with refreshments and music in the Culp Center Ballroom will precede the main awards ceremony. The reception will also feature visual tributes to the foremothers of the Women’s Studies Program, and to women’s ‘firsts’ at ETSU.
For more information or for special assistance for those with disabilities, contact Kinser at (423) 439-7571 or womenstudies@etsu.edu.

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