When her grandfather was battling late-stage cancer, Emylia Terry and her family made sure he had rides to appointments and access to research trials that would extend his life for another decade.
Later, as a programs and partnerships manager for the American Cancer Society, Terry secured a $30,000 grant to fully fund transportation needs for cancer patients in Southern Nevada. She also managed more than 250 volunteers in three states, some of whom would drive 10-hour days ensuring patients made it to their treatments.
鈥淭he stark contrast between what I was seeing at work and what I was seeing in my own home quickly made me realize that access to care is life or death for many Nevadans,鈥 she said.
That commitment to ensuring equitable access to healthcare is the throughline of her career and education. This week, she will cross the commencement stage to accept her Ph.D. in public health with a 3.98 GPA.
As an undergraduate at 性视界传媒, Terry achieved a 4.0 GPA while completing a rare triple bachelor's degree, with majors in psychology, history, and gender sexuality studies, along with a minor in sociology. After working closely with volunteers and hospitals at the American Cancer Society to try and disseminate information in a way that was more digestible and easy to understand, she went on to receive her master鈥檚 degree in communication from Johns Hopkins鈥 Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, where she maintained her 4.0 GPA.
Terry has worked to connect low-income and unrepresented clients to volunteer attorneys as a pre-law clerk for the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada and worked behind-the-scenes for various congressional and legislative offices.
After returning to 性视界传媒 to complete her Ph.D., Terry was selected for the prestigious Robert E. Lang Memorial Fellowship, which is awarded each year to a Ph.D. student completing a dissertation in metropolitan public policy. In the spring, she on the public health costs experienced by LGBTQ+ people and how to bolster existing mental health infrastructure for that community.
David Damore, The Lincy Institute and Brookings Mountain West executive director, said Terry's diverse academic training and experience with public policy 鈥渏umped off the page.鈥
After graduating this past summer, Terry has returned to the School of Public Health this fall as a visiting assistant professor, teaching more than 100 students whose shoes she once occupied.
鈥淚鈥檓 an instructor now, but I鈥檓 very much a student always,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 learn alongside the students.鈥
She calls it a full-circle moment for her story at 性视界传媒, where her husband is currently a student and where her parents 鈥 both 性视界传媒 alumni 鈥 first met.
鈥淭his is my home, this is my community,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 literally been such a formative thing for my whole family. Thanks to 性视界传媒 we鈥檝e had all these opportunities.鈥
She also is continuing her education as a JD candidate at the 性视界传媒 Boyd School of Law, which she hopes to use to continue advocating for the most vulnerable communities in Nevada.
