by Nancy Humphrey
Two volunteer leaders have been named to positions on Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s advisory boards.
Grammy Award-winning country music artist Kix Brooks is the new chair of Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt Advisory Board, effective July 1, taking over for outgoing chair Allison DeMarcus. Louise Adams, who succeeds Judge Les Smith, was recently named the chair of the Vanderbilt Eye Institute (VEI) Advisory Board.
Approximately 100 community members serve as volunteers on VUMC’s advisory boards and are philanthropic supporters and advocates in the community. They are critical to VUMC’s mission to provide expert specialty care and advance discovery research and world-class clinical training.
“Louise and Kix are both passionate and long-serving advisory board members who bring wisdom and experience to these important roles. I want to express my sincere appreciation to each of them, and to our other advisory board members, for their steadfast support of the Medical Center’s mission,” said Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and CEO of VUMC and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
The Children’s Hospital Advisory Board was formed in 1975 and is a philanthropic and advocacy board. Advisory board members are actively involved in education and outreach to important constituents in the community to raise funds for the hospital’s highest priorities.
A native of Shreveport, Louisiana, Brooks started his career as a songwriter. A decade later, he teamed up with Ronnie Dunn to form Brooks & Dunn, who are the highest selling duo in the history of country music. In 2019, they were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Brooks, who hosts the long-running syndicated radio program American Country Countdown, received the CMA National Broadcast Personality of the Year Award in 2009, 2011 and 2013, making him the first person to ever win a CMA Award in both the artist and broadcast categories.
In addition to volunteering with Children’s Hospital, Brooks, co-owner of Arrington Vineyards, has hosted the annual Arrington Vineyards Harvest Party for the past eight years, raising funds and awareness for the hospital and its programs. A philanthropic leader in the community and within the music industry, he has either hosted or been a key supporter of other events for the hospital, including Behind the Music and Celebrity Golf Classic.
Brooks is also involved with organizations such as the Fort Negley Advisory Board and the Country Music Association. In December 2014, he was named the first recipient of the Country Music Association’s Humanitarian Award.
Established in 2006, the VEI Advisory Board educates the community and raises funds for VEI’s highest priorities. In addition to contributing to the endowment of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, the VEI Advisory Board supports faculty trainees and annually awards a discovery grant.
Adams, named the VEI Advisory Board’s new chair in September 2019, has been a member of the VEI Advisory Board since its formation.
A graduate of Vanderbilt University (BA 1972) and Vanderbilt University Law School (JD 1978), she spent her entire legal career in the Atlanta office of the law firm Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan.
Adams worked three years as a securities law paralegal before law school and spent both summers during law school as a summer associate at the firm. She then worked as a full-time corporate and securities lawyer, helped clients with a wide variety of corporate transactions and public financings and became a partner of the firm. After retiring from the full-time practice of law, Adams continued in an of counsel role for Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan until 2014.
As part of her lifelong passion for gardening, Adams served as a member of the Board of Trustees and chair of the Legacy Garden Committee of the Southeastern Flower Show from 2004-08. In this capacity, she led projects to create or enhance soothing garden areas for patients at four health care facilities in Atlanta.
