NANCY HOWELL AGEE

Nancy Howell Agee has dedicated her career to bolstering health care in the Roanoke Valley and in Southwest Virginia.

Agee was born at Roanoke Memorial Hospital and later lived there while attending nursing school. In 1973, she went to work as a nurse at the hospital.

After earning a master’s degree in nursing from Emory University, Agee became the director of a National Institutes of Health oncology grant in the Star City. From there, Agee held a series of leadership roles at Carilion Clinic, becoming chief operating officer in 2001, a post she held for a decade before being named the first female president and CEO of the health system in 2011.

“Under her leadership, Carilion transformed from a collection of separate hospitals into a fully integrated, physician-led health system serving over 1 million patients in Virginia and West Virginia,” Agee’s nominator said. “Her vision helped launch the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute — landmarks that have anchored health care delivery, education, and research in the region.”

In 2019, Agee and her husband, U.S. Circuit Judge G. Steven Agee, kicked off fundraising to build a cancer center in Roanoke with a $1 million gift. Even after retiring from Carilion in 2024, Agee continues raising money for the health system as its CEO emeritus.

In October, Carilion announced the launch of a $50 million fundraising campaign to bring proton therapy to the Carilion Taubman Cancer Center, which is under construction.