For release: August 30, 2012
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey, 901-678-2843

The Loewenberg School of Nursing will welcome a popular voice on wellness and patient empowerment as it honors its first graduating class at the Distinguished Lecture and Legacy Luncheon Friday, Sept. 21, at the University of Memphis.

Dr. Marie Savard will present “Shape-shifting Through Time: Dr. Marie’s Waist Management Wellness Program for Women (and Men) of All Ages” at 10 a.m. in the University Center River Room. The lecture is free and open to the public.  Parking is available in the Zach Curlin garage adjacent to the University Center.

The luncheon, honoring the inaugural graduating class of 1969, will follow at 11:30 a.m. in the University Center Fountain View Room. The cost of the luncheon is $25 per person. Reservations may be made online at www.memphis.edu/alumni/rsvp, or by contacting Shawn Carter at 901-678-5016 or smcarter@memphis.edu. The RSVP deadline is Sept. 14.

Research has shown that many aspects of health are affected by body shape; they include weight loss, risk of diabetes, depression, heart disease, sexual dysfunction and cancer. Savard will examine an array of health issues through the lens of body shape and the changes that accompany aging. The former ABC News medical contributor and nurse-turned-physician will present solutions that will help both men and women sidestep the physical and emotional pitfalls of body shape in order to lose weight, feel healthier and live longer. She is the author of several books, including How To Save Your Own Life, The Savard System for Managing – and Controlling – Your Health Care, and The Apple and Pear Approach to Weight Loss and Wellness.

Savard earned a bachelor of science degree in nursing and a medical degree, both from the University of Pennsylvania. She was formerly the director of the Center for Women’s Health, technical adviser to the United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, adviser to the American Board of Internal Medicine on Women’s Health, health columnist for Woman’s Day magazine, and senior medical consultant to Lifetime Television's Strong Medicine. 

Honorees from the class of 1969 are: Bishop Bettye J. Alston, Betty Kinchen Anderson, Charlotte Beaird, Ernestine Harts Chism, Wanda Deaton, Clara Evans, Betty Pilkington, Betty Rixter, and the late Evelyn Gifford, Ernestine Isabel, Eliza Kirby, Martha Quinley and Texana Wiggins.