By Staff
He was one of 41 leaders who helped establish school
By CLAUD HODGES
Newsroom Manager
The late Ashley Brown Futrell was among 41 individuals who were recognized on Oct. 23 by East Carolina University for working to bring a medical school to eastern North Carolina.
ECU officials unveiled a painting Oct. 23 honoring those people.
Futrell’s image is located near the right side of the painting, which was rendered by ECU-graduate Cameron Jackson.
Dr. Paul Cunningham, dean of the Brody School of Medicine at ECU, and Dr. Phyllis Horns, interim vice chancellor for health sciences, pulled the cover from the painting during the school’s fall convocation.
Futrell and the other individuals helped convince legislators and the University of North Carolina Board of Governors to build the medical school in Greenville, according to Cunningham and Horns.
The unveiling and convocation were held in the auditorium of the new East Carolina Heart Institute at ECU, the first official event to be held in the new $60 million building. The four-story, 206,000-square-foot building at 115 Heart Blvd. on the ECU health sciences campus houses offices and research labs for cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, vascular surgeons and scientists. It also houses outpatient treatment and educational facilities.
Futrell began working at the Washington Daily News on Nov. 15, 1949, just 10 days before his marriage to Rachel Fox. He bought the paper shortly thereafter. The Futrell’s only child, Ashley B. “Brownie” Futrell Jr., joined the Washington Daily News in 1978 as its general manager before becoming president and publisher in 1982.