Dr. Kathryn Edwards joined the School of Medicine faculty as an assistant professor of pediatrics in 1960. She was the first pediatric cardiologist in Georgia and launched the pediatric cardiology program at Emory University, serving as director from 1960 to 1969. Always interested in new challenges, Dr. Edwards completed a residency in radiology at Emory in 1972, which led to a 20-year career as a pediatric radiologist at Emory and Egleston Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Edwards retired from her position as an associate professor of pediatrics and radiology at Emory in 1993. Throughout her career, she loved to teach medicine and was an author or co-author of numerous medical articles. Always committed to advancing medical education opportunities, she established the F. Kathryn Edwards, M.D. School of Medicine Scholarship Endowment Fund at the Medical College of Georgia Foundation.
A native of Atlanta, Dr. Edwards graduated from Girls High School with honors. She started her professional career as a medical laboratory technician while attending classes at the University of Georgia Extension (now Georgia State University). She then became a medical laboratory technician at Fort McPherson while completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Georgia. Dr. Edwards received her MD in 1950 from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta and then went on to complete a pediatric internship and residency at Emory University. She maintained a private pediatric practice in Atlanta for four years before completing a pediatric cardiology residency at the University of Cincinnati.