JOHNSON CITY — East Tennessee State University’s College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences (CCRHS) recently handed out two Distinguished Alumni awards and inducted four other individuals into the college’s Hall of Fame. A special ceremony was held earlier this month to recognize the honorees.

The two individuals who received the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award from the CCRHS are:

• Dr. Dorothy Dobbins — Dobbins received a Bachelor of Science degree in social work from ETSU in 1970. She later earned a Master of Science degree in social work from University of Tennessee and a Ph.D. in applied social sciences from Case Western Reserve University. She began her career in Sullivan County with the Department of Human Services before entering academia at ETSU as an assistant professor in the Department of Social Work in 1977. She quickly advanced into leadership roles within the university, serving as associate dean of student affairs in the Quillen College of Medicine for 11 years before becoming the associate vice president in the Office of Cultural Diversity for the Division of Health Sciences at ETSU for nine years. She served on numerous regional and national task forces, including service as national chair for the American Association of Medical Colleges Group on Minority Student Affairs. In 2016, the Tennessee National Association of Social Workers awarded her with the Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2018, she was honored by the YWCA as one of nine women who have bettered the quality of life for thousands in the Mountain Empire.

• Lt. Cmdr. Marissa Greene — After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science from Appalachian State University in 2005, Greene continued her education at ETSU, earning a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree in 2009. In 2010, Greene was commissioned as a lieutenant in the United States Navy Medical Service Corps. In 2017, she graduated from the Military Musculoskeletal Physical Therapy Residency Program from the Army Medical Department Center and School in Texas. She is currently pursuing a Master of Arts degree in defense and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College. While serving as department head for the Orthopedic Physical/Occupational Therapy and Chiropractic Department at the U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, she led 23 staff to provide inpatient and outpatient therapy services to 55,000 active duty members and their beneficiaries. During this time, she pioneered the Navy’s first multidisciplinary Traumatic Brain Injury Program that served all warfighters within the Pacific area of operations. She currently serves as the senior physical therapist and associate director for Clinical Support Services in Pensacola, Fla., overseeing 24 staff across four diverse departments including pharmacy, radiology, physical/occupational therapy and laboratory services. In recognition of her clinical excellence and managerial prowess, she was selected as the U.S. Navy Physical Therapist of the Year in 2018.

Those inducted to the CCRHS Alumni Hall of Fame are:

• The late Dr. Sol Adler — Adler received his undergraduate degree from Brooklyn College, his Master of Science degree from Penn State University and his Ph.D. from Ohio State University. He spent 10 years at ETSU, initially serving as the director of the Speech and Hearing Program and then as the first chairman of the Department of Special Education. During this time, he founded the Speech and Hearing Clinic at the Mountain Home VA Medical Center. He developed a student training program with the hospital clinic so that ETSU speech and hearing majors could gain practical experience with patients not ordinarily seen at the university clinic. He left ETSU for an opportunity to establish a Speech and Hearing Clinic at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. In 1972, he founded the UT Pediatric Language Clinic. He was nationally known for his pioneering work in pediatric language disorders and multicultural issues. Throughout his career, he worked to bring attention to the needs of underserved populations. After his death, the University of Tennessee continued his annual conferences, renamed the Sol Adler Memorial Conferences.

• Dr. Doug Masini — Masini received his Associate of Science degree in respiratory care from the University of Toledo, his Bachelor of Science degree from Regents College, his Master of Arts in adult education from Tusculum University and his Doctor of Education in educational leadership and policy analysis from ETSU. He began his career in health care working as a staff therapist at various hospitals in Ohio and Florida. In 1990, he became director of pulmonary physiology at Bristol Regional Medical Center, where he implemented several therapist-driven protocols that dramatically changed the scope of practice for respiratory care therapists. Later, he served as program director for ETSU’s Cardiopulmonary Science program from 2001 to 2008. During this period, the program was recognized by the Commission of Accreditation for Respiratory Care with the inaugural “national program of the year award” in 2007. He currently serves as full professor in the respiratory care program and department chair for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Sciences at Georgia Southern University. He is recognized as a national leader in his profession and this year, he was awarded the Mort Duggan Award to the Profession by the Georgia Society for Respiratory Care and the Georgia Southern University Award for Excellence in Community Service.

• The late Dr. Francis Ward Morgan — Morgan received his Associate of Science degree from Grand Rapids Junior College and his Doctorate in Dental Science from the University of Michigan. He began his career as a captain in the Air Force during World War II and the Korean War. After serving his country, he returned to private practice for 17 years. He came to ETSU in 1972 as an associate professor in the newly-formed Dental Hygiene program. He was promoted to full professor and later served as chair of the department from 1977 until his retirement in July 1988. During his tenure at ETSU, he was responsible for multiple successful accreditation site visits. In 1976, he earned the university-wide “Outstanding Faculty Award,” given to the faculty member with the largest number of votes from the entire student body. He initiated the groundwork for the Bachelor of Science degree in dental hygiene that started several years after his departure.

• Dr. Paul Stanton — Stanton received his Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry from Emory University and was awarded an M.D. degree from the Medical College of Georgia four years later. He completed an internship in surgery, a surgical residency, and a fellowship in vascular surgery. Between 1975-1983, he directed the Surgical Residency Program at Georgia Baptist Medical Center, where he also served as active attending physician. In 1985, Stanton came to Johnson City as director of the Division of Peripheral Vascular Surgery for the Veterans Administration Medical Center and ETSU’s Quillen College of Medicine. He was selected as the Dean of the Quillen College of Medicine in 1988. In 1996, Stanton was selected as the eighth president of ETSU until his retirement in 2012 as president emeritus. It was during this period, under Stanton’s leadership and guidance, the Department of Physical Therapy was established. His unwavering support of the program through administrative oversight and with the establishment of the Paul and Nancy Stanton Family Scholarship has enabled the program to achieve a national ranking, with exceptional faculty who are leaders in their profession. Additionally, Stanton was a long-standing supporter of the college’s Department of Social Work during his presidency.