The Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership at Drexel University College of Medicine will present the 16th annual Woman One Award to trailblazing scientist and community leader Gloria Twine Chisum, PhD, on April 30, 2018. Chisum is an experimental psychologist best known for developing protective eyewear for pilots in extreme conditions.
The Woman One program annually honors an outstanding woman for her leadership in the Philadelphia community and raises scholarship funds for talented, underrepresented women who are studying at the College of Medicine.
“Gloria’s example and contributions have inspired and helped so many people,” said Lynn Yeakel, director of the Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership. “She is a perfect Woman One honoree.”
The award will be presented at the annual Woman One ceremony at The Rittenhouse in Philadelphia. Honorary co-chairs of the event are Drexel University President John Fry,University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann and Claire Lomax, Esq., general counsel for the Lomax Companies.
First-year Drexel medical students Dominique Jones and Jacqueline Koomson are this year’s Woman One Scholars. They were selected for their academic achievements, leadership qualities and community service. Both decided to become physicians in order to help patients in underserved communities. As Woman One Scholars, each receives $100,000 in tuition support from the Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership over four years.
Chisum was born and raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and became a well-known research psychologist. During her career, she headed the Vision Laboratory at the U.S. Naval Air Development Center and become a world-renowned authority on visual problems associated with the operation of high-performance aircraft. She retired in 1990. Chisum has been an active leader in many civic and professional organizations, serving on the boards of directors for the William Penn Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Arthritis Foundation, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Constitution Center, Fischer and Porter Co. and Philadelphia Savings Fund Society. She is also an emerita trustee and former vice chair of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania.
Among the numerous honors Chisum has received are the Raymond F. Longacre Award from the Aerospace Medical Association, the George Washington Carver Scientific Achievement Award, the Alumni Award of Merit from the University of Pennsylvania, and the Black Engineer of the Year Award for Achievement in Government. She is a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania and a member of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
Chisum holds BS and MS degrees from Howard University and PhD in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. She received honorary degrees from the Medical College of Pennsylvania (a predecessor institution of Drexel University College of Medicine), Ursinus College, York College, and the University of Pennsylvania.
“It is both an honor to join the ranks of the Woman One Award recipients and a pleasure to do so because of the support that the Woman One program provides to women scholars at Drexel's College of Medicine, which years ago, when it was MCP, granted me an honorary degree,” Chisum said.
In 15 years, the Woman One program has raised more than $3 million and has supported scholarships for 31 current and former scholars at the College of Medicine. Past award recipients include Estelle Richman (2003), Leslie Anne Miller (2004), Dawn Staley (2005), Suzanne Roberts (2006), Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD (2007), Stephanie Naidoff (2008), Jane Pepper (2009), Eliana Papadakis (2010), Sara Manzano-Díaz (2011), Dianne Semingson (2012), Lisa Thomas Laury (2013), Laurada Byers (2014), Lynne Honickman (2015), Renee Amoore (2016) and Molly Shepard (2017).