1960s
Loretta C. Ford, BS ’49, MS ’51, EdD ’61, was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in October 2011 and in the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame in March 2012.
Gale Weed Adair, BS '62, enjoys hiking and leads education hikes several days a week. She also volunteers at the Save The Family Thrift Store, The Boyce Thompson Arboretum and the Lost Dutchman State Park.
Alice Bedford Cox, BS '62, is employed part-time as a lactation specialist at a hospital in Texas.
Carol Green Helming, BS '62, is a member of the Medical Reserve Corps and is trained to help people in emergencies.
Laurie Braun Hill, BS '62, volunteers with the Grand Mesa Backcountry Horsemen maintaining and building trails on BLM and Forest Service land.
Diane Sutter Pottorf, BS '62, became the director of nursing of a start-up home health agency - she still works there two days a week doing quality assurance. She also makes nursing home visits with their certified therapy dog, Skye.
Marilyn Kratzer Osborne Rock, BS '62, MA, is working on her doctorate in depth clinical psychology.
Johanne Hohman Ibsen, BS '62, works as a substitute RN for the Cherry Creek (Colo.) Schools.
Sharron Talbott Robertson, BS '62, volunteers at a local hospital in the Alzheimer's Day Care Unit.
Patricia Underwood, BS '62, is a professor emeritus of the University of California-San Francisco and of Hyogo College of Nursing, Akashi, Hyogo, Japan.
Penny Thome, BS '62, MA, got her master's degree in Christian counseling in 1998 and continues to practice as an LPC, CAC-II and registered play therapist.
Marilyn A. “Dee” Ray, BS ’68, MS ’69, former College of Nursing faculty (1984-88), is professor emerita of Florida Atlantic University. While in Florida, Ray returned to CU each summer through 1999 as a visiting professor to teach advanced interpretive qualitative research or human science research in the PhD program. Early in her career, Ray was a flight nurse in the U.S. Air Force Reserves Nurse Corp during the Vietnam conflict and will return there this December to speak at Hanoi Medical University on the subject of caring and healing. She has also published three books: Trancultural caring dynamics in nursing and health care. (F.A. Davis Co., 2010); A study of caring within an institutional culture: The discovery of the Theory of Bureaucratic Caring. (Lambert Academic Publishers, 2010); and Nursing, caring, and complexity science: For human-environment well-being (Springer Publishing Co., 2011).
1970s
Shannon Perry, MS '71, PhD, was recently written up in The Denver Post for hiking Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa and raised $8,800 for Operation Mobilization, an organization that builds awareness of human trafficking. Dr. Perry made it to base camp at 15,580 feet—the highest she’s ever climbed. She is a professor emerita of San Francisco State University and is 73 years old.
1980s
Fay Hummel, MS ’85, is an educator at the University of Northern Colorado and was recently recognized by Vietnam’s Ministry of Health for her contributions in creating the first masters of nursing program in the country. She was honored by the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City with the title of Professor Honorius Causa. Hummel in 2007 helped establish Friendship Bridge Nurses Group (FBNG), a nongovernmental organization that partners with the Vietnamese Educators and policy makers in the hopes of advancing the profession of nursing and the overall improvement of health Care of Vietnam.
Carol Schober-Flores, BS '86, from Children’s Hospital Colorado, was selected as one of 12 regional finalists from 167 Nightingale Luminaries at the Metro Denver regional banquet on Feb. 27. The statewide Nightingale Luminary Awards will be held May 19.
1990s
Linda Bergstrom,
PhD '92, is a clinical associate professor at the College of Nursing, University of Utah in Salt Lake City. She has served on the American Council for Midwifery Education (ACNM) as a senior site visitor continuously since 1994. Formerly she was a member of the ACNM program committee and the Board of Governors, Division of Education, Preceptor Support Section. Now she serves on the ACNM Division of Research, Dissemination Section. Dr. Bergstrom is now engaged in scholarship and mentoring. She writes for publication, teaches research methods and guides graduate students in midwifery and other majors as they complete either their MS or DNP final capstone projects.
Eileen Breslin, FAAN, PhD '92, is the new president-elect of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. She assumed office at the close of the AACN business meeting at the spring annual meeting, March 24-27, 2012, in Washington, D.C. Dr. Breslin is professor and dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio.
Susan Hagerdorn, MS, Phd '95, has been awarded the University Medal. An associate professor emeritus of the College of Nursing, Hagerdorn has made substantial contributions while an active faculty member, including developing clinical experiences with poor and underserved populations. She has continued to contribute in her retirement, including producing documentary films on a range of topics related to nursing, health care and domestic violence. Serving as one of the founding members of the School of Public Affairs' Center on Domestic Violence, Dr. Hagedorn was also the driving force behind the creation of the center's certificate in interpersonal violence and health care, which launched in 2009.
Terry Chase, ND '96, from Craig Hospital, was selected as one of 12 regional finalists from 167 Nightingale Luminaries at the Metro Denver regional banquet on Feb. 27. The statewide Nightingale Luminary Awards will be held May 19.
Alice Marie Slaven-Emond, MS '98, FNP-C, has opened a community health center in Delta, Colo. This will be the third community health center she has opened since 1993. She also owns a family practice clinic in Farmington, N.M., and has completed several trips to Haiti. On the last trip, she worked in primary care with the Universe Medical Centre in Ouanaminthe, Haiti, on the border with Dajabon in the Dominican Republic. She is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leader (2003).
2000s
Robyn Rice, PhD '03, loves her job as associate professor for the Chamberlain College of Nursing in Edwardsville, Ill. She teaches fundamentals, research and the capstone courses in the undergraduate program. In her spare time, Dr. Rice is on the panel review board for the Journal of Nursing Education (JNE) and is working on several articles about nursing education for publication. She has published six home care textbooks (Elsevier).
Karen Johnson, BS '07, has accepted a position as a tenure track assistant professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Texas. She'll be teaching in the public health nursing specialty for the master's program as well as undergraduate courses. Johnson earned her PhD in 2012 from the University of Minnesota with an emphasis in adolescent/public health. She is also a member of the CU College of Nursing Alumni Association Board of Directors.
Teri Moser Woo, PhD '08, RN CNL, CPNP, FAANP, is a new associate dean at Pacific Lutheran University, responsible for the master's programs. She will also assist the school in developing a DNP curriculum She was previously the director of the Clinical Nurse Leader program at the University of Portland School of Nursing.
In memoriam
1940s
Jean Marie Smith, BS '46, passed away on June 13, 2012, at the age of 88. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi and worked part-time as a nurse while raising her children and being a devoted wife. She enjoyed traveling and was a longstanding and active member of Cherry Hills Community Church.
1950s
Virginia J. Carozza, BS '50, passed away Oct. 16, 2011, at the age of 93. She earned her diploma in nursing from Wilkes-Barre General Hospital School of Nursing in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. She received her master's from the University of Denver, then came to CU as an associate professor. She taught medical surgical nursing at the college from the early 1950s through the 1970s.
Mary (Morse) Dameron, BS ’53, passed away in July 2010. She was living in Fresno at the time and had worked as an RN with the Veteran’s Administration for many years.
Thelma Waters Cox, BS ’56, passed away in September 2011.
1960s
Jane Ulsafer-Van Lanen, BS ’67, MS ’69, passed away on August 1, 2012, from pneumonia complications at the age of 68. She began her career at Illinois Psychiatric Institute. Later, she served in several positions at Rush University Medical Center, including assistant professor in the College of Nursing, director of nursing continuing education, director of psychiatric nursing and associate vice president/director of psychiatry services.
1970s
Olga Miercort, MS ’72, passed away on July 20, 2012, at the age of 94. She was a lifetime member of the Colorado Nurses Association, past president of the Friends of Nursing and served on the Colorado Nursing Board of Directors. In 2002, she was honored as the outstanding nursing alumni at Metro State and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the CU's Nursing Alumni Association. While getting her PhD at the University of Denver, she was part of the consortium that developed the second “Two by Two” program in the United States at Metro State College of Denver. She helped establish a nurse practitioner program at Metro State College in 1976 and was named chair of the department of Nursing and Health Care Management. She remained in that position until her retirement.
1980s
Cindy (Koets) San Miguel, BS '82, passed away Feb. 8, 2012. She was a long-time employee at Children's Hospital Colorado and a 2012 Nightingale nominee for the Central AHEC.
1990s
Lisa Ann Miller, BS 93, died Jan. 22, 2012 at the age of 56. She spent her career working as a pediatric nurse at Boulder Community Hospital, Children's Hospital in Denver and Avista Hospital in Louisville.
2000s
Kathryn G. Lynch, BS '06, lost her battle with cancer on July 29, 2011. Mitchell moved to the U.S. from South Africa in 1990 and to Colorado in 1992. During her career as a nurse, she worked at Craig Hospital, Villa Manor Care Center and Brighton Gardens/Ermeritus of Lakewood. She was 43.
Former Faculty
Retired professor Glenn Webster, PhD, who taught philosophy of science in the doctoral program, lost his battle with cancer on June 13, 2012. Webster contributed to an early version of the ANA Social Policy Statement for Nursing.