Returning to the school that fueled her curiosity and work ethic, OMRF physician-scientist Judith James, M.D., Ph.D., received the royal treatment this week.
The science classroom at Pond Creek-Hunter High School now bears her name, following a dedication and schoolwide assembly on April 2.
A 1985 graduate of Pond Creek-Hunter High, James is now a world-renowned rheumatologist and a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. She attended the classroom-naming ceremony flanked by family, lifelong friends, her high school science teacher, OMRF Director Jim Morris and OMRF President Andrew Weyrich, Ph.D.
“Not only is this part of Oklahoma still home to me and my family, but it’s also where the seed was planted and nourished for me to become a physician and a scientist,” said James, who is OMRF’s executive vice president and chief medical officer. “Growing up on the farm with an amazing, supportive family and community, I learned to be a creative problem solver and hard worker with a can-do attitude.”
Charles Wille, her former science teacher, recalled that even his prized pupil wasn’t above adolescent high jinks. Once, while chaperoning a class ski trip in Colorado, Wille had to quiet James and her roommates following another lodger’s complaint of late-night raucous laughter from their hotel room.
“Growing up, I had world-class teachers and mentors,” James said. “Today at OMRF, I’m able to fulfill two passions: seeing patients while also conducting experiments aimed at better understanding disease.”
