CCRHS announces Distinguished Alumni and Hall of Fame inductees
The ETSU College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences honored several alumni at its annual Hall of Fame and Distinguished Alumni awards ceremony last week.
East Tennessee State University's College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences recently announced its 2023 Distinguished Alumni and Hall of Fame inductees.
Kristie Hammonds and Dr. Don Samples were presented with the Distinguished Alumnus Award, which honors those graduates who have contributed in a significant way to the vision and mission of the college.
• Hammonds is president and CEO of Frontier Health, and is currently a member of the Northeast Regional Health Council, and vice-chair of the Tennessee Association of Mental Health Organization’s Executive Board of Directors. She also serves on the executive council of the STRONG Accountable Care Community and chairs its No Wrong Door work group. Hammonds has a bachelor’s degree in social work from ETSU and a master’s in business administration from Milligan University.
• Samples is dean emeritus of the ETSU College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences, beginning his 33-year career at ETSU as director of Clinical Education for the Respiratory Therapy program. During his years of leadership at ETSU, Samples led the development of several new academic programs, including the state's first master of science in allied health. Samples received a bachelor of science degree in business administration with a concentration in management, and a certificate in respiratory therapy from ETSU. He continued his education with a master of science degree in education from the University of Tennessee and a doctorate in higher education administration from ETSU.
CRHS also inducted four into its Hall of Fame, including Dr. Allen Burleson, Dr. Vic
Hopson, Jessica Lenden-Holt and Elliot Moore.
• Burleson owns a dental practice, where he continues to expand his scope of treatment by training
in areas beyond general dentistry. He is currently a member of both the Tennessee
Dental Association and the American Dental Association, as well as the Tennessee First
District Dental Society. He also maintains fellowships with the American College of
Dentists and the International College of Dentists. Burleson received his undergraduate
degree from ETSU in 1979. After that, he attended the University of Tennessee Center
for Health Sciences/College of Dentistry, where he earned his DDS. He has practiced
general dentistry in Jonesborough since 1982.
• Hopson retired from ETSU in 2020 after nearly a half-century with the university, serving
as the resident dentist in the Marshall Nave Center Dental Lab and the Dental Hygiene
Program. Hopson held his own dental practices in Bristol and Elizabethton and participated
with various professional organizations at the local, state and national level in
his career. Hopson attended ETSU from 1967-69 before attending the University of Tennessee
School of Dentistry from 1969-73.
• Lenden-Holt is the chief clinical officer for Sidekick Therapy Partners, the largest pediatric
private practice in Tennessee. She also serves as the vice president of legislative
affairs for the Tennessee Association of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists
and chair of the philanthropy board for the College of Clinical and Rehabilitative
Health Sciences at ETSU. She co-founded Dream Team Adapted Sports, which offers free
adapted athletic camps to children in the region. Lenden-Holt was a Whittle Scholar
and received honors degrees in both audiology and speech-language pathology and Spanish
from the University of Tennessee. She received her M.A. in communication sciences
and disorders with an emphasis in bilingualism and multicultural studies from the
University of Texas-Austin.
• Moore is a public affairs consultant to Ballad Health. She serves as a member of the Tennessee
Hospital Association’s legislative affairs council and represents Ballad Health on
its federal policy committee. In addition, she serves on the board of directors of
Healing Hands Health Center, an organization providing charitable health care to low
income, uninsured and underinsured residents of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest
Virginia. Moore attended the University of Alabama, where she graduated in the first
class ever awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in social work. She then received
her Master of Science in social work degree with a concentration in policy and administration
from the University of Tennessee.
With five health sciences colleges and more than 40 health sciences programs, ETSU
offers a robust combination of academic programs and patient-care facilities that
elevate interprofessional experience in health care education.
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East Tennessee State University was founded in 1911 with a singular mission: to improve the quality of life for people in the region and beyond. Through its world-class health sciences programs and interprofessional approach to health care education, ETSU is a highly respected leader in rural health research and practices. The university also boasts nationally ranked programs in the arts, technology, computing, and media studies. ETSU serves approximately 14,000 students each year and is ranked among the top 10 percent of colleges in the nation for students graduating with the least amount of debt.
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