Sparta
As a child growing up on her family's White County Century Farm, Cathryn Rolfe never imagined one day crossing rivers in a dugout canoe to reach remote medical clinics in Africa.
But looking back, she believes those two worlds have more in common than most people would think.
"The skills I learned camping in Scott's Gulf with my dad, my sister and our friends taught us how to rely on a team and be self-sufficient," Rolfe said. "When I was working in rural areas overseas, I thought about those experiences often."
A 1983 graduate of White County High School, Rolfe has spent her career leading organizations, practicing law, improving healthcare and helping build international public health programs. Yet despite working around the globe, she says the foundation for everything she accomplished was built right here in Sparta.
"We received an excellent education. We had teachers who cared about us," she said. "I know I was prepared when I went to college."
After graduation, Rolfe followed a family tradition by attending the University of Tennessee, earning a degree in finance. But during her senior year, she realized the career she thought she wanted wasn't the one she was meant to pursue.
"I realized I wanted more," she said. "I knew I wanted to go to grad school, but I wasn't sure what for. Law was never in my plans."
She earned her law degree from the University of Tennessee, completed her final year at Vanderbilt University and began practicing law in Nashville. What followed wasn't a carefully planned career path, but one opportunity leading to another.
"My career journey is interesting," Rolfe said. "Where you start and where you end up won't always look the same."
That unexpected journey eventually led her to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she helped launch international initiatives focused on HIV/AIDS prevention and pandemic control in Mozambique and Nigeria. She spent weeks at a time in some of Africa's most remote communities, helping connect medical leadership with healthcare workers on the ground.
Her success with Vanderbilt's international programs opened the door to another historic opportunity. Rolfe became Vanderbilt University Medical Center's first chief business officer, where she was charged with bringing together educational and training programs that had long operated independently. By creating a more unified system, she helped strengthen collaborations across the institution and improve the way future healthcare professionals were trained.
That success soon caught the attention of HCA Healthcare, which was building a national focus on physician education. Rolfe was recruited to become the organization's first chief operating officer for graduate medical education, where she helped develop what would become the largest physician residency training program in the United States. Her work helped expand opportunities for thousands of future physicians while strengthening the pipeline of healthcare providers across the country.
Rolfe is quick to point out that none of those opportunities happened alone.
"We all have to attribute some of our success to luck," she said. "I got involved in my community in Nashville. When you get involved, you build relationships. Everything in my career is because someone I knew reached out to me."
For Rolfe, the foundation of every professional connection was built years earlier in the close-knit community she called home.
"I learned to make connections in a small town. I learned that reputation matters in a small town. I learned how to work in a small town," she said.
Relationships weren't the only lessons Rolfe carried with her. She says the strong work ethic that became a hallmark of her career was first developed on her family's Century Farm and strengthened through one of her first jobs in Sparta.
"I was fortunate to have learned a strong work ethic in Sparta," Rolfe said. "While I worked for Gale Walker, I learned that a woman in business has to work hard."
Whether it was helping on a farm that has remained in her family for generations or learning firsthand what it took to successfully run a local business, Rolfe says those early experiences taught her that success comes from showing up, putting in the effort and earning the respect of those around you—lessons she relied on throughout every stage of her career.
Even after building a career that took her across the globe, Rolfe says White County has always been the place that grounded her. Whether she was working in Nashville, leading international healthcare initiatives in Africa or helping shape the future of physician education, she says the values she learned growing up on her family's Century Farm never left her.
"Home is a very important place," she said. "We grew up on a farm."
Looking back, Rolfe says she never could have imagined the opportunities that would come after graduating from White County High School.
"I could not imagine the opportunities I had in 1983," she said.
But while her career took her far from Sparta, she says she never left behind the lessons she learned there.
"I carried all of that experience with me," Rolfe remained firm in her belief that White County shaped her.
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