1982-1986

\ Edinburg native is now the personal physician of the Secretary of ~tate

By OVID VICKERS . It's a long way from Edinburg, Mississippi, to London, Moscow, Bom– bay, and Beirut; but Dr. Beverly Henry Oliphant has made the trip. And along the way she has filled the years with a determination to succeed and with many outstanding accomplishments for her efforts. Beverly was graduated from Edinburg High School in 1957 as the valedictorian of her class. She had always wanted to go to college, but like many other young Mississippians, her family did not have the resources necessary to pay the tui– tion. Government grants and student loans were not available in those days, but to use an old cliche, "Where there's a will there's a way." With little money, but a great deal of determination and a genuine love of lear– ning, Beverly arrived at East Central Junior College 'in September of 1957 . St"'\. •old Miss Erma Lee Barber, the .....,.~of Women, that she wanted very mucb4o become a medical doctor but did riot have the money to enroll in col– lege. She also let it be known that she was willing to work. Miss Barber, know– ing that she had a position open for an assistant in the girls' dormitory, asked Beverly to stay; and the next morning, Arno Vincent, the President of the col– lege, gave her the job as a dormitory assistant and made arrangements for her to register for classes. The job in the dormitory paid only half her expenses, but Mr. Frank Leatherwood, an instructor in biology, soon recognized her ability in the classroom and laboratory and offered her a job as his laboratory assistant. Following her graduation from East Central, Beverly attended Mississippi State University where sl.ie held three jobs in the science department and con– tinued to maintain high academic stan– dards. In recommending her for these positions at Mississippi State, Mr. Leatherwood commented, "If all students were like Beverly Henry, the job of instructing in a classroom would be very easy." With a B.S. Degree in hand, Beverly enrolled at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The lack of necessary funds caused her to withdraw and accept a teaching position in Florida where she taught for two years.

Discovering that there were three research positions open at the Universi- ty of Florida, she applied for and was offered all three jobs. She accepted one of the positions and at the same time enrolled in the graduate school at the University. At the end of the year, she had completed a Master's Degree and was more determined than ever to seek admission to a medical school to study With a desire to live in another sec- tion of the country, Beverly next made application to three medical schools in Washington University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Maryland. Usually only one out of eight students with good academic records gets accepted into medical school; Bever- ly received letters of acceptance from all three universities. She chose to attend the George Washington School of Medicine and proved once again to be an outstanding student. When she graduated from the school as a medical doctor, she was as her mother, Mrs. Ira Henry, puts it "not one of the top in her class, but the very top." After graduating from medical school, Dr. Oliphant was appointed to the George Washington University Board of Trustees. She has throughout her career maintained a keen interest in Veterans' Hospitals and has appeared on national television and before Congressional Committees to speak in behalf of the medical care of veterans and the services offered at Veterans' Hospitals. She is also a visiting lecturer at the .George Washington Medical School. Beverly is married to Frank Oliphant of the Williston Community in Leake County. Frank is a former instructor in physics at Mississippi State University and is now doing research in the field of physics at the United States Naval Research Labdtatory in Washington. The Oliphants tlave three children, ages 24, 16, and 14. At the present time, Dr. Oliphant is attached to the Foreign Service Section of the United States Department of State Medical Unit, where she is an internal medicine specialist. One of her duties is to act as personal physician to Secretary of State George Schultz. When Secretary medicine.

Schultz tra".:ls outside the United States, Dr. Oliphant travels with him. Beverly Henry Oliphant, by her own admission, had to pick cotton to make the money to buy her class ring in 1957, but in 1984, as a part of the State Department delegation, she flew to In- dia to attend the funeral of Prime Minister Endira Gandhi. It is indeed a Jong way from Edinburg, Mississippi, to Bombay, India; but Dr. Beverly Henry Oliphant, East Central Junior College's 1985 Alumnus of the Year, has made the

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