[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 20, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING GEORGE C. HALE SR., M.D. AS A GREAT LIVING CINCINNATIAN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ROB PORTMAN

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 20, 2004

  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize George S. Hale, 
Sr., M.D., a distinguished constituent, who will be formally honored on 
February 26, 2004 by the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce as a 
Great Living Cincinnatian, one of our region's highest honors. The 
recipients of this prestigious award are selected on the basis of 
special professional achievement; an awareness of the needs of others; 
civic service; leadership; and distinctive accomplishments.
  Born on June 3, 1929 in Detroit, Dr. Hale moved to his mother's 
hometown of Macon, Georgia when he was four. Growing up in Macon, Dr. 
Hale cites the benevolence of his mother, an aunt and their family's 
physician as his significant early influences. His mother, Carlena 
Jordan Hale, was a social worker during the Depression who took Dr. 
Hale along as she delivered food and clothing to poor families. His 
aunt, Junia Jordan Fambro, was a dietitian at Fort Valley State College 
for 44 years. She helped students with food and financial assistance, 
and was a loving and supportive example to Dr. Hale. The family's 
physician, Dr. C.W. Dwyer, was also a role model to him.
  After attending Bibb County, Georgia public schools and Macon's 
Ballard High School, Dr. Hale graduated from Talladega College in 
Alabama. He returned to Macon and taught math and science for two years 
at Ballard High School. Although he encountered prejudice and the 
competition to attend medical school was keen, he was accepted into 
McHenry Medical College in 1952 and became an extern at Cincinnati's 
Jewish Hospital in 1955. He graduated in 1956, and returned to Jewish 
Hospital as an intern at a time when, Dr. Hale says, African American 
physicians had difficulty finding internships. He became a fellow with 
the University of Cincinnati Department of Metabolism and 
Endocrinology, then served at the Dover Air Force Base Hospital in 
Dover, Delaware. After leaving the Air Force, Dr. Hale opened a private 
practice in internal medicine that he maintains today.
  In 1982, Dr. Hale became only the second African American physician 
to be elected president of Cincinnati's Academy of Medicine. He is also 
past president of the Cincinnati Chapter of the National Medical 
Association. Devoted to encouraging and mentoring African American 
medical students and physicians, Dr. Hale has contributed immeasurably 
to the quality of life in Cincinnati. A founding member of Health 
Careers and Cancer Family Care, Dr. Hale has also been active with the 
American Red Cross; the Child Guidance Home; the Health Foundation of 
the Greater Cincinnati Academy of Medicine; the Cincinnati Art Museum 
and the Allen Temple A.M.E. Church. He and his wife, Sarah Hale, 
received Lighthouse Youth Services' Beacon of Light Humanitarian Award; 
Urban League's Glorifying the Lions Award; and the National 
Philanthropy Day Award.
  All of us in Greater Cincinnati thank Dr. Hale for his service to our 
community, and congratulate him on being named a Great Living 
Cincinnatian.

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