Nancy B. Stanton Auditorium
Quillen auditorium named for Nancy B. Stanton
JOHNSON CITY (Oct. 23, 2015) – The Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University named its largest gathering space after a woman who has spent more than a quarter century supporting the medical school’s leaders and its rural healthcare mission.
In a special dedication ceremony held Friday morning in the ground-floor auditorium of Stanton-Gerber Hall on the VA campus, ETSU President Brian Noland thanked Nancy Stanton, former first lady of the university, for all she has done for the people of East Tennessee.
Dr. Wilsie Bishop, vice president for Health Affairs and ETSU’s chief operating officer, called Stanton’s love and commitment to the community “absolutely outstanding.”
Stanton, the wife of ETSU President Emeritus Dr. Paul Stanton, moved to Johnson City from Georgia with her husband in 1985. Her service as ETSU’s First Lady began in 1997 when her husband became the eighth president of the university after serving multiple roles within the institution for 12 years. Mrs. Stanton continued in that capacity with distinction for the next 15 years.
During her years of affiliation with ETSU, she was and continues to be a strong supporter and participant in a number of campus organizations and activities. She was selected in 2007 as an Honorary Alumna in recognition of her outstanding commitment and service.
To further honor that commitment and service, on Friday, the auditorium in Stanton-Gerber Hall, a building named in part for her husband, officially became the Nancy B. Stanton Auditorium.
In addition to her name being above the door to the auditorium, a plaque featuring an etched image of Mrs. Stanton and her biography will hang just inside the entrance.
“It means so much to me to know that every medical student here for as long as this building stands will pass under my name that is right outside this room,” Mrs. Stanton said in addressing the crowd gathered at the ceremony. “It is an auditorium named for me in a building named for my husband. That is very special to me.”
Mrs. Stanton lauded the efforts of the Quillen College of Medicine over the years, emphasizing two particular points of pride – that over 50 percent of the students now are women and that the medical school has stayed true to its mission of focusing on rural health.