Rome, Ga. — Dr. Sylvia Washington, Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Floyd Medical Center, will be the featured speaker at Shorter University’s 2020 Christmas on the Hill President’s Gala. The dinner will be held Thursday, December 3, at 7 p.m. following a reception at 6 p.m. The event will be in compliance with CDC recommendations for large-group gatherings.

“Dr. Washington is a dedicated physician who serves the Lord through her work caring for the health of children,” said Shorter University President Dr. Don Dowless. “Her husband, Dr. Marcus Washington, is a member of the faculty in our School of Education, and we are blessed to have them both as part of the Shorter Family. We look forward to hearing Dr. Washington’s perspectives on important issues of our day, including raising healthy families and pursuing Christ-centered excellence in the fields to which we are called.”

The Christmas on the Hill President’s Gala raises funds for Shorter’s Student Scholarship Program. Sponsorships and individual tickets are available at www.shorter.edu/gala.

“Our Gala supporters are making a significant impact on the lives of Shorter University students,” Dr. Dowless said. “Almost every one of our traditional students receives financial aid, and that would not be possible without donor support of the Student Scholarship Program. The vast majority of our students rely on these scholarships to be able to be part of our Christ-centered University.”

Dr. Washington was born and raised in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where she attended Atlantic City Public Schools. She received a full scholarship to attend Howard University and graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa. She was awarded an academic scholarship from the Atlantic County Medical Society to attend UMDNF-New Jersey Medical School, where she earned her Medical Degree in 2007. She completed her internship and pediatrics residency at Mercer University in 2010.

For three years, Dr. Washington worked at East Albany Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care Center in Albany, Georgia as part of the National Health Service Corp Program. She then relocated to Rome, Georgia, where she is a pediatrician for Floyd Primary Care Pediatrics with hospital privileges at Floyd Medical Center. At Floyd, she has taught several medical students, nurse practitioner students, and family medicine residents.

She currently serves Floyd Medical Center as Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and is the local site director for the Reach Out and Read Program. Dr. Washington serves the Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics as the Chair of the Section on Early Career Physicians. She has published several articles for Georgia Pediatrician. She has done medical missions work at the Baptist Medical Center in Nalerigu, Ghana and is a board member of the George Faile Foundation.

Dr. Washington has been honored with several awards including Floyd’s Physician of the Year Award (2018), Rome Life Magazine’s Twenty Under Forty (2019), and Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Young Physician of the Year (2019). She adds that she is humbled to be a servant of Jesus who prays with her patients and staff. She is married to the love of her life, Shorter University’s Department of Education Professor Dr. Marcus Washington, and they have three children: Christian, Daniel and Stephanie.

Founded in 1873, Shorter University is a Christ-centered, four-year liberal arts university committed to excellence in education. The Princeton Review annually includes Shorter on their lists of best Southeastern Colleges. The university offers traditional bachelor’s degrees in 40 areas of study, online courses and degree programs, undergraduate programs for working adults, associate’s, and master’s programs.