Tenley Albright Inducted into National Women's Hall of Fame

Tenley Albright/Wikimedia Commons

Last week, the 1956 Olympic Gold Medalist, retired surgeon and director of the nonprofit MIT Collaborative Initiatives was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, NY. The Boston Globe did a great piece on her two weeks ago, ahead of the induction on October 3.

I used to have a poster of Tenley skating on my wall when I was a kid. I wanted to be just like her -- an Olympic gold medalist AND a doctor. Obviously neither of those things happened, and I'm cool with that, but she continues to be a role model for me. What an amazing lady.

She was the first American woman ever to win the Olympic gold in women's figure skating, became a surgeon at a time when being a female doctor was rather rare (and perhaps frowned on), and continues her work today as an octogenarian advancing progress in health and medicine-related public policy. Oh and did I mention she overcame polio as a child? She even still skates a little these days.

I wonder if I still have that old poster of her somewhere. Thinking of putting it up on my daughter's bedroom wall!