Cannon Schoolgraduation speaker
CONCORD ń Seventy-one teenagers will hear from Charlotteís woman of the year when they graduate high school on May 20.
Dr. Ophelia Garmon-Brown will address Cannon Schoolís graduating class of 2011 during the schoolís 10th commencement program.
Garmon-Brown, a physician, minister, volunteer, community leader and vice president at Presbyterian Hospital, was honored March 30 as Charlotteís 2010 Woman of the Year. The Woman of the Year award, given since 1955, recognizes service and civic leadership in and beyond Charlotte.
ěWeíre truly honored to have Dr. Garmon-Brown speak at the graduation,î said Matt Gossage, head of school. ěShe has such a deep and personal commitment to living Cannonís five core values of courage, teamwork, respect, integrity and passion. Our graduating students will begin the next chapter of their lives inspired by her words of service and faith.î
Garmon-Brown has spent decades caring for others in Charlotte and around the world. As a board-certified family practitioner and vice president of community partnerships with Novant Medical Group, she has touched the lives of thousands of patients in Charlotte. She has also volunteered her services as a medical missionary in Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Jamaica and the U.S.
Garmon-Brown is a graduate of N.C. Central University in Durham and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, from which she received her medical degree with honors in 1980.
She made history in Charlotte as the first African-American woman resident at Carolinas Medical Center in 1980 and the first black woman elected as president of the Mecklenburg County Medical Society in 2009. She chairs the Presbyterian Hospital Ethics Committee and is a member of the Executive Committee of Presbyterian Hospital and Novant Medical Group.
She earned a masterís degree in divinity from Union Theological Seminary in 2007 and is an associate minister at Myers Park Baptist Church.