Richardia “Rickie” Pierce, Dr. Phyllis Miller and Susan Elliott Rich will be honored for their personal and professional achievements on May 4 as the 2010 Tennessee Women of Distinction.
Their recognition will highlight the annual Women of Distinction Awards at the Chattanooga Convention Center.
The 25th anniversary luncheon is co-chaired by Barbie Standefer and Debbie Clifford Brown.
“This big anniversary year is special. We wanted to honor three women to mark the occasion, and each in her own right is a Tennessee Woman of Distinction,” said Shirley Cudabac, executive director of the sponsoring American Lung Association of Tennessee.
Each of the honorees has previously won the Chattanooga Woman of Distinction Award.
DR. PHYLLIS MILLER
On Friday, the Tennessee Medical Association will present Dr. Phyllis Miller with its Outstanding Physician Award, which is the equivalent of its lifetime achievement award.
The honor is the latest recognition in her precedent-setting career.
She is the first woman to serve as president of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society, the first female Chief of Staff at Erlanger, the first woman elected president of the Tennessee Medical Association.
“I never saw myself as a trailblazer,” she said. “I just do what I want to do and things just happen.”
She was one of just six women in her class of 100 medical students. When she graduated from UT Medical School in 1972, she became the first female doctor from Polk County.
The doctor has been in private practice of gynecology and obstetrics for 33 years, currently at Women’s Institute for Specialized Health. She’s served on the boards of Women’s Pavilion East, Chattanooga Medical Foundation and the trustees of the Tennessee Medical Association.
Dr. Miller is president of the Medical Foundation of Chattanooga. She has served on the boards of Hospice of Chattanooga and the March of Dimes, and on the advisory committee for the Rape Crisis Center. She is also a member of the Rotary Club of Chattanooga.
She spent a week on a medical mission to Haiti in February, delivering care to earthquake victims in Leogane.
“The patients were lined up, and we took care of whoever showed up. I delivered a lot of babies – one at night by flashlight,” she said of the experience.
She has never forgotten her Polk County roots. In 2004, she established the Polk County Education Foundation, which provides college scholarships to Polk County graduates.
She has one daughter Rachel, and son-in-law Robbie Tester.
RICKIE PIERCE
Rickie Pierce, associate headmaster at Girls Preparatory School, has spent 35 years in education while accomplishing an impressive record of community service.
Mrs. Pierce joined the faculty of what was then the University of Chattanooga in 1965. She taught English for 15 years at UTC, eight of those years while also serving as assistant to Chancellor James Drinnon.
Since 1982 she has been an administrator at Girls Preparatory School. She plans to retire at the end of this academic year.
Mrs. Pierce has served on the boards of 30 civic, social, cultural and educational boards, serving as president of 11 of them.
She served a six-year presidency of the Sister City Association of Chattanooga, during which time Chattanooga formed bonds with Nizhni Tagil, Russia. She was a member of the Sister Cities delegation that visited China in 1994.
She currently sits on the board of the Bicentennial Library, Junior League Advisory Board, UTC Women’s Studies Advisory Board and the Women’s Leadership Institute.
She was one of the original five board members of the Stadium Board, and is currently board vice president.
A past president of the Kiwanis Club of Chattanooga, she was elected lieutenant governor of Kiwanis District III last year.
She has remained a loyal UTC alumna, serving on the UT Women’s Council, UTC Alumni Board, UTC Athletic Board, secretary of the UTC faculty council, UTC Provost Search committee and she founded the UTC Women’s Civic Council.
In recognition of her leadership she was named a Go Red for Women honoree, UnBossed & UnBought role model by Girls Inc., won the 2007 Athena Award and the Chattanooga Community Woman’s Service Award.
She and her husband, Charles, have one daughter, Lynn Mulligan, granddaughter Lea Taylor Mulligan, and one deceased son, Chuck. They are active members of First-Centenary United Methodist Church.
SUSAN RICH
Susan Elliott Rich has practiced law for 34 years, specializing in the areas of banking, real estate and health care.
She, too, has blazed a trail of “firsts” through a distinguished career.
After graduating from Emory University School of Law in 1976, she joined the practice of Hatcher, Stubbs, Land, Hollis & Rothschild in Columbus, Ga. Five years later she was named the firm’s first female partner.
While in Georgia, she also served as special assistant attorney general for the state of Georgia from 1978-1982.
Moving to Chattanooga in 1982, she practiced law with two local firms before joining Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz P.C. in 1986.
In her 23 years with Baker Donelson, she became its first female partner and the first female in the firm to occupy the position of managing shareholder.
In 1994, she became the first female to be elected to the firm’s board of directors, then the first female re-elected to the board.
Mrs. Rich has chaired the charitable contributions committee for the firm’s Chattanooga office from 1993 to the present. She was elected a fellow of the Chattanooga Bar Foundation in 2007.
She has served on the board of governors of the Walden Club, including a term as president, as well as on the board of trustees of her alma mater, Queens College.
Mrs. Rich has been a Chattanooga Symphony and Opera Association board member for 10 years, serving as president for the past four. She has chaired several fundraiser for the CSOA.
A charter member of the Jordan Thomas Foundation board of directors, she volunteered to draft the legal documents required to form that foundation.
The attorney is the owner of Buffett, an Alaskan malamute named after her favorite singer, Jimmy Buffett. Just like his namesake, Buffett is a legendary performer.
“We have shown Buffett for four years, and he has set a lot of records,” she said. “He’s a multiple Best in Show, has been to Westminster Kennel Club show three times and was the youngest Alaskan malamute to win an Award of Merit at Westminster.”
Buffett retired with his last turn around the show ring at Westminster this year. He and his owner will support Angels on a Leash, an advocacy group for therapy dogs.
Mrs. Rich and her husband, Dr. John Stephen Rich, have one son, John Stephen Rich Jr.