NOBEL PRIZE WINNER SPEAKS TONIGHT FOR PRESIDENT'S LECTURE SERIES
Carol Etherington, recipient of the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize as a member of the American board of directors of Doctors Without Borders (DWB) and a psychiatric nurse who has worked extensively with traumatized populations in community and post-disaster settings worldwide, will speak at Old Dominion University Wednesday, Nov. 13, as part of the President's Lecture Series at 8 p.m. in room 102 of the Mills Godwin Jr. Life Sciences Building. It is free and open to the public.
A previously scheduled noontime panel discussion with several Nobel Prize winners was cancelled.
The acting president of DWB, an international humanitarian aid organization that provides emergency medical assistance to populations in danger in more than 80 countries, Etherington is an assistant professor of community health at the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in Nashville and also a board member of DWB.
As a clinical nurse, mental health trauma specialist and disaster response team member, Etherington has worked in multiple settings, from the rural areas of Appalachia to Cambodia and from the city streets of Nashville to Sarajevo. An advocate and voice for vulnerable and victimized populations, Etherington has designed, implemented and administered programs that address the health and mental health needs of populations experiencing severe physical and emotional trauma.
Etherington helped treat victims of a brutal regime in Cambodia and offered comprehensive mental health services to residents of Bosnia in her role with the International Medical Corps and Medicins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders.
She has also worked with local governments and international teams in Honduras, Kosovo, Poland, Tajikistan, Sierra Leone and Angola to set up community-based programs that address post-traumatic conditions in the aftermath of war and natural disaster. She has served as a volunteer in multiple national disasters, including New York City after Sept. 11.
In 1986 she designed and directed Police Advocacy Support Services. For her work domestically and abroad, Etherington was one of two Americans and 36 recipients worldwide to receive the 1997-98 International Red Cross Florence Nightingale Medal.
Seating for the lecture is available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, call 683-3114.