Peggy Simpson

Three laboratory professionals were honored at the CLMA/ASCP 2004 Conference and Exhibition in Atlanta last month. Peggy Simpson, administrative director of laboratories at the Danville Regional Medical Center, Danville, Va, received ASCP’s Associate Lifetime Achievement Award, which honors an associate who demonstrates a commitment to the profession through work, attitude, and contributions to society. Simpson began her career in 1967 as a generalist at York General Hospital in Rock Hill, SC. From 1975 to 1984, she took on various medical technology instructor positions at nearby colleges. She then became chemistry supervisor at Anderson Regional Medical Center in Anderson, SC, and in 1988 she became program director of medical laboratory technology and phlebotomy programs at Alamance Community College in Graham, NC.

Linda Lemery
     Linda Lemery, MBA, MT(ASCP)DLM, received the ASCP Associate Excellence in Management Award. This award recognizes an ASCP associate who is actively engaged in laboratory management or supervision and has demonstrated effective leadership skills and management strategies in the areas of personnel, finance, and operations. Lemery has written several articles on laboratory management.

Vicki S. Freeman
     Vicki S. Freeman, PhD, MT(ASCP)SC, professor and chair in the Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston, was honored with the ASCP Associate Excellence in Education Award. This award was established to recognize an ASCP associate who is actively involved in a medical laboratory education program and has demonstrated outstanding performance in teaching through work in the classroom or clinic, or through development of effective teaching methods and instructional materials. Freeman has held various professor positions at UTMB and at the University of Nebraska for more than 10 years. She has taught topics such as clinical laboratory methods, research in laboratory sciences, method development and assessment, management skills for clinical laboratories, legal and ethical issues in health care, and clinical chemistry.

Mae C. Jemison, MD, Elected to Gen-Probe Board of Directors

Mae C. Jemison

Mae C. Jemison, MD, founder of BioSentient Corp and the Earth We Share, has been elected to the board of directors of Gen-Probe Inc, manufacturer and marketer of nucleic acid testing products for the clinical diagnosis of diseases and for the screening of donated blood products. She served 6 years as a NASA astronaut, founded a technology consulting firm, the Jemison Group, and was an environmental studies professor at Dartmouth College, where she ran the Jemison Institute for Advancing Technologies in Developing Countries. Before joining NASA, Dr Jemison served as the Area Peace Corps Medical Officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia in West Africa, and practiced medicine in Los Angeles. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine, an inductee of the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the National Medical Association Hall of Fame, and a winner of the Kilby Science Award.
     Dr Jemison is currently guiding BioSentient Corp, a medical technology devices and services company, in the design, development, and marketing of leading-edge, NASA-patented ambulatory equipment that provides real-time, real-life physiologic monitoring and the means to control one’s responses to environment and stimuli.

Iris International Appoints New Chairman

Richard H. Williams has been appointed chairman of Iris International, manufacturer and marketer of automated IVD urinalysis systems and medical devices. He replaces Dr John A. O’Malley, who is retiring. Williams, retired chairman of Williams Resource Group, has founded and helped structure, finance, and take public a number of small public and private companies.