Gumption and Goodwill
Dr. Georgenna Riley blazed her own trail. Now she helps others do the same through an endowed minority scholarship.

By Susie Shutts

Growing up in the Appalachian foothills of a small Kentucky town, Georgenna Riley, D.O. (’95), had an uncommon dream.

“I always wanted to be a scientist,” says Riley—though most female professionals she knew at the time were either secretaries or teachers.

Riley, now head of the radiology department at Kaiser Permenente in Cleveland, came to OU-COM encouraged by her mother, who in her late thirties earned her high school diploma and took post-secondary classes, and her stepfather, a tailor, to whom “education was very important,” Riley says.

Her path, however, took a few more turns than the typical medical student. She first earned a degree in dentistry at the University of Kentucky. Then, after practicing as a dentist for ten years in the Washington, D.C., area, Riley had a change of heart.

“I’d always had an interest in medicine,” Riley says. “I wanted more opportunities to help people.” continue

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