CONLEY MEDICAL SCIENCE LEGACY
Ashley Jacobs, R.N. and the 4th Generation of the Conley Family to attend Oakwood University.
The Family has a 125-year tradition in medical science.
Dr. Burgess Scruggs graduated from Meharry Medical School in Nashville, Tennessee in 1879. Alabama established a formal board for medical certification in 1880, and Dr. Scruggs then returned to his hometown of Huntsville, Alabama to become the state's first practicing doctors of color. He became a respected medical doctor, city leader, and property owner. He became an anchor pillar of the extended family.
Sallie Ann Conley Thornton, sister of Paschal Conley II, served as an army nurse to the Buffalo Soldiers in the Spanish American War from 1892–1901. Her daughter married Zann Scruggs, interlocking the Conley and Scruggs families forever, and giving us several more generations of medical professionals.
Thelma Jackson was the first modern nurse, and created a new legacy at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky in the 1940s. The Conley Family is now in its third generation at Spalding University. The nursing tradition, and that century of tradition culminated with Ashley Jacobs receiving her professional nurse certification in 2017, coinciding with the Family's Bicentennial celebration.
Nicie Conley Murphy, PhD, from Louisville, Kentucky, extended the family’s presence in medical science. She is a published scientist in organic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry and photochemical reactions. She holds a patent for her work at Siemens corporation in the properties of microporous spherical carbon molecular sieves. In 2005, she became our third generation to graduate from the University of Tennessee.
Dr. Quentin Wilson DVM from Illinois, is a descendant of family icon Alexander Conley I. He explored new territory, earning a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 2016. He is now in the veterinary division of the National Institutes of Health in Washington D.C. Dr. Nina Joy Butler is is the latest family member to focus on pediatric medicine. She was our second generation to attend the University of Michigan, and earned her MD from Michigan State University. Dr. Angela Thornton, a descendant of business pioneer William 'Bill' Conley, is a published authority on Reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (RTIs), and Revascularization.
