PINEHURST – Dr. Fred McQueen, chief of staff of Sandhills Regional Medical Center, owner of McQueen Medical Center in Hamlet and medical director for the Britthaven Nursing Facility, will be the featured speaker on Wednesday at 11 a.m. in Owens Auditorium at Sandhills Community College. This event was organized in celebration of this year’s theme for Black History Month – “Black Empowerment Economically: Past, Present and Future.”

Board certified in family medicine, Dr. McQueen was the first African-American physician in the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army. He earned his undergraduate degree from Howard University and his medical degree from Howard University School of Medicine.

Dr. McQueen has served as president of the Richmond County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People since 1978. He is a former president of the Old North State Medical Society and a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

The Old North State Medical Society awarded him “Doctor of the Year” in 1992 and most recently the Kuumba Award for his leadership and compassion in 2009. McQueen has also been a recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, one of the most prestigious awards presented by the Governor of North Carolina.

Dr. McQueen is a member of the American Medical Association, the N.C. Medical Society, and the Richmond County Medical Society.

View the college’s Website at www.sandhills.edu.