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AUGUSTA, Ga. () – The Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce held the 115th Annual Meeting Thursday evening, and the Augusta Metro Chamber honored the life and legacy of Dr. Joseph M. Still, the founder of the Joseph M. Still Burn Center, by posthumously awarding him with the 2024 Lester S. Moody Award of Excellence.
The keynote speaker was Still’s daughter and Augusta native, Commander Susan Still Kilrain, a NASA Astronaut, Navy Test Pilot, Author, and Mother.
This year`s honoree, Dr. Joseph M. Still, founder of the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, teamed up with Doctors Hospital in 1978 to build one of the world`s leading treatment facilities for burn victims. Dr. Still founded the Burn Foundation of America, formerly known as Southeastern Firefighters` Burn Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization devoted to helping burn patients and their families with non-medical necessities. The foundation operates the Jeffery Vaden Chavis House, a long-time dream of Dr. Still`s, which is a place for people to stay while their family members are in the burn center.
The Lester S. Moody Award of Excellence is the Chamber’s highest honor. Organizers state that it is such a significant honor that the Chamber has not awarded it in seven years prior to Thursday night’s ceremony. The Chamber states that Dr. Still was chosen because he dedicated his career to helping others, they wrote in a press release.
Prior to the announcement, Former Astronaut Kilrain, one of Dr. Still and his wife Sue’s 10 children, took guests On A Mission: From Augusta`s Greens to the Galaxy for what was called the can`t miss event of the year.
Astronaut Susan Still Kilrain is a motivational speaker, author, board member, and venture capital partner. She is a veteran of two space shuttle flights and one of only three women to ever pilot the shuttle. Her first mission to space was cut short due to a life-threatening systems failure, while her second mission lasted 16 days. Susan is a graduate of the Naval Test Pilot School, and she has flown over 30 different types of aircraft for more than 3,000 flight hours. Most of her flight time was in the F-14 Tomcat, EA-6A Electric Intruder, and TA-4J Skyhawk. Susan is from Augusta, GA and holds a master`s degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is married to retired Vice Admiral Colin Kilrain, who was a Navy SEAL for 39 years. They have 4 children and reside in Virginia Beach, VA.
Kilrain opened with saying how good it was to be back in Augusta and thanking the Chamber, adding, “It’s great to be able to walk down the sidewalks and say ‘Hey’ to people and them say ‘Hey’ back.”
Leading up to the award for her father, Kilrain shared stories of her father’s influence on her life.
The dream of flying was sparked in those early childhood memories, a secret she kept to herself until she became older. She told those in attendance that, even though she’d been into outer space on the back of a high-powered rocket, flown in jets, and been in emergency situations during takeoff, nothing, she found, is ever as scary as, as tough as, being a parent.
“My dad used to take us to Daniel Field to watch the airplanes take off and land, and I fell in love with flying,” Kilrain says. “Right now, the biggest thing I am looking forward to is NASA to go back to the moon., to take people to the moon. You know, back in the late 60s and early 70s, 12 white men went to the moon. But in the next few years, we’re going to put the first woman on the moon, the first person of color on the moon, we’re going to build a habitat on the moon, in hopes of one day doing the same on Mars.”
Taking the stage, again, to accept the award on behalf of her father and family, Kilrain told the audience, “I told you he was a good guy.”
The dinner event was presented by Georgia Power.
The Chamber also unveiled upcoming Chamber priorities and past year’s accomplishments during the 115th annual meeting.
