current Spotlight

Sallie Davidson Macy and Robert (Bubba) Macy

Class of 1970

Sallie Davidson Macy and Robert (Bubba) Macy have been wife and husband for 54 years and are members of Maryville College’s Graduating Class of 1970.  In the 56 years since their graduation, they have been the heart and soul of the class and often are the “connectors” who remain in contact with classmates and the energy behind keeping their Maryville College friends in touch with one another.  At the 50th Reunion of the Class of 1970,  Sallie and Bubba were recognized for their thoughtful efforts to keep classmates connected and there is a brick placed in the sidewalk in front of Fayerweather Hall in their honor.

Sallie came to Maryville College in 1966 from P.S. Dupont High School in Wilmington, Delaware.  Her guidance counselor, Ruth L. Green, was a 1930 Maryville College Graduate and was instrumental in helping several students from P.S. Dupont find their way to MC.  Sallie’s plan for after high school graduation was to go to college to become a dental hygienist.  Ruth, knowing a great deal about Maryville College and its programs, knew that the college had a Medical Technology Program that began the in the 1950’s under the leadership of Dr. Elgin Kintner at Blount Memorial Hospital, who, along with Sallie’s dentist, encouraged her to look at a four-year program. That began her journey in medical research, which is where she is still at work to this day.

Bob came to Maryville College in 1966 from Miami, Florida, after spending one year at The University of Florida.  He learned about Maryville from an MC student, Paula Neilson, Class of 1967.  Bob wanted to major in Physical Education to become a High School Teacher and Coach.  He also wanted to play college football and baseball, and Maryville College afforded him the opportunity to do both.  Thus, the two of them came from different parts of the country and met each other and are now married for almost 55 Years.

When they both graduated in 1970, Sallie very much wanted to stay in Maryville, a town that she loved very much.  Bob was fortunate to have done his student teaching under the direction of MC Graduate Clint Abbott, who was an important part in Bob finding his first and only post-graduation teaching/coaching job at Powell High School.  Bob retired from Powell after teaching for 33 years. Bob gives Mike White, a Maryville College graduate, a lot of credit for helping him get the teaching position at Powell.

While a student at Maryville College, Sallie remembers professors like David Young, Bob Ramger, and Dr. Charles Blair as those who had the greatest impact on her learning.  She also is very thankful for her student advisor her freshman year, Marvin Beard, who was so very helpful and supportive. At the Laboratory at Blount Memorial Hospital Sallie was trained by a supportive community that not only provided technical knowledge, but also assistance with housing, rides to and from work, and life skills.  Med Tech Majors begin their laboratory training in May of their senior year through the next May of graduation.  Dorms were not available when school was not in session.

As Sallie prepared to graduate, she was encouraged to branch out and get experience in other hospitals.  At that point, her journey to The University of Tennessee Medical Center began.  Her first job was in a GI Lab which would help her be on the lookout for available positions.  She saw an ad that Dr. Krauss, a Hematologist, was looking for a technologist.  She applied for the position and Dr. Kintner said in his recommendation for her “Sallie is trainable.”  At the time the US Health system was standardizing stains for Leukemia diagnosis.  Dr. Krauss sent Sallie to CDC in Atlanta for training and to be certified in the staining techniques.  For several years Dr. Krauss’ laboratory (Sallie) was the one place certified to stain bone marrow samples for diagnosis of types of Leukemia.  Her next position was with Dr. Alan Solomon researching cause, effects and treatment of Multiple Myeloma, which led to an in-depth study of proteins.  As this research was winding down, she started research into Amyloidosis, a rare disease that occurs when a protein amyloid builds up in organs. UT Medical Center has received private money for this research.  Dr. Jon Wall as the UT team director have isolated a radioactive Peptide that attaches to the protein amyloid around the heart so that with imaging (CAT Scan) it can be identified. Patients are coming to UT from all around the country to get this imaging done. The team has five human studies in progress on this disease.  Her commitment to the humans affected by Amyloidosis has her working years past retirement age and doing it with great passion, excitement and enthusiasm.  When Sallie talks about her research and work, she gets very emotional and it is important to her to work to make a difference for people today as well as to those who will benefit in future years. Sallie works to instill in interns who rotate through the lab that the slide they are studying is from a live person.  Sallie and Bob are appreciative of all that has been helpful to them along their life journey, and of Maryville College, who gave them the foundation to pursue wonderful and meaningful lives.