In the spring of 2002, Women of Color magazine held a special event for the Women of Color in Health, Science and Technology Awards. The symposium was held to honor and inspire women who help make America's healthcare system work.
The goal was also to promote better health care for all Americans by recognizing the contributions of women. The Health Care Executive of the Year was Annie R. Neasman.
Back then, she was deputy secretary of the Florida Department of Health and chief public health nurse for the State of Florida.
More recently, AMN Healthcare announced the appointment of Sylvia Trent-Adams, Ph.D. to their board of directors. Prior to her retirement from the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in August 2020, the Technologist of the Year held leadership roles in the Department of Health and Human Services, directing and coordinating major federal health programs.
Among her many awards and decorations, Dr. Trent-Adams received the Meritorious Service Medal for her work on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and the International Red Cross Florence Nightingale Medal, the highest international honor given to a nurse.
Eleanor Valentin, promoted to rear admiral in 2009, made history as she ascended to the boss's seat in Navy Medicine. She was the first woman to reach flag rank in the Medical Service Corps and the first minority officer to lead the Medical Support Command.
Patricia Bath, a 1997 Women of Color STEM honoree, was a groundbreaking ophthalmologist. She invented one of the most important surgical tools in history. This spring, she will be honored in the Inductee Class of 2022 by the National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF), one of the first Black female inventors inducted by NIHF in its nearly 50-year history.
