NHS Alumni Notes

Class of 1948

Marie (Santora) Bruce (Diploma in Nursing, BSN 1950) attended Georgetown through the Cadet Nurse Corps. After finishing the hospital-based diploma program in 1948, she attended the College of Arts and Sciences for two years to earn the bachelor of science in nursing in 1950. (Read a story about Marie.) 

Class of 1952

Elizabeth (Walters) Clark (BSN) attended the former five-year BSN Program at Georgetown through which students completed two years of coursework in the College of Arts and Sciences followed by three years in the School of Nursing. (Read a story about Elizabeth.)

Class of 1960

Carol Holland (BSN) had a long career in the Air Force Reserve. Over the years, she served on active duty at Travis Air Force Base in California and then as a flight nurse (who accumulated more than 3,000 hours in the air), for nearly two decades, in the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard in New Jersey, Delaware, and Wyoming. Additionally, Carol was an admissions liaison officer for the Air Force Academy and AFROTC, and she served on the Air Force Academy Advisory Panel for many years. (Read a story about Carol.)

Class of 1969

Eileen McGrath Gloor (BSN) completed a master’s degree in public health nursing at Yale University. She served as assistant professor at the University of Iowa College of Nursing until relocating with her husband, Richard Gloor, a physician, to the USAF Hospital in Weisbaden, Germany where two of their four daughters were born. In Iowa, Eileen has served as faculty at Grandview University, a nursing researcher at the VA medical center, associate director of the Iowa Board of Nursing, and bureau chief of professional licensure at the Iowa Department of Public Health. 

Luci Baines Johnson (Honorary 2018)—daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson—and her husband, Ian Turpin, have made a $1M gift to the School of Nursing & Health Studies. The Johnson/Turpin Fellows Endowed Fund supports scholarships for graduate students who have a demonstrated interest in serving adult and geriatric populations, along with other underserved communities. (Read more about this transformative gift.)   

Bernardine Lacey (BSN), a Living Legend of the American Academy of Nursing, is featured in the new oral history, published in the American Journal of Nursing, “‘You Don’t Have Any Business Being This Good’: An Oral History Interview with Bernardine Lacey,” by Sandra B. Lewenson and Ashley Graham-Perel. (Read the AJN article.) “Racism left an indelible mark on Bernardine Lacey and her professional growth as a nurse, including roles as an educator, political advocate, researcher, clinician, and leader. This article uses oral history methods to detail, in Lacey’s own words, experiences from her childhood and early in her education and career,” the article’s abstract, in part, reads. The article also discusses the current oral history project of School of Nursing & Health Studies colleagues Edilma Yearwood, chair of the Department of Professional Nursing Practice, and Brian Floyd, assistant dean, featuring the first four African American graduates, including Lacey, of the Georgetown School of Nursing, 1964-1969. (Read more about this oral history work.)

Class of 1975

Eileen Brennan Ferrell (BSN, MS-Nursing 1983), a member of the school’s Board of Advisors, is a senior vice president and chief nursing officer at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. Becker’s Hospital Review named her one of the 50 CNOs to know.

Class of 1976

Maura Walsh Devaney (BSN) writes that in mid-February 2020, just prior to the COVID-19 quarantine, she and husband Brian Devaney (B’76) vacationed with their growing family in Arizona. Pictured are Kerry Devaney Jacobs (C’03) and James Jacobs (C’03); Jack and Jessica Devaney; Meghan Devaney Rinehart (C’05) and Charlie Rinehart (F’05); and Katie Devaney Watson (BS-Health Care Management & Policy 2009) and Chris Watson (B’07). Grandchildren: Katie, JP, Maggie, Hayden, Brooks, Gracie, Tommy, Mae, Brian, Annie and Callie.

Class of 1977

Judy Nespeca (BSN) worked as a nurse and administrator in various roles and settings for more than 40 years. She is retired and living a quiet life in the mountains of Colorado, “my dream.”

Class of 1980

Marcia Rubenstein Gardner (BSN) and husband Jim (F’79) are thrilled that their daughter Abby will be joining the NHS Class of 2024 as a freshman this fall 2020. Although she’ll be following in some of her mother’s footsteps, she will truly be creating her own, unique path forward.  

Class of 1981

Sarah Lesesne Tripodi (BSN), a member of the school’s Board of Advisors, noted that her son, Joseph, graduated virtually from the McDonough School of Business in May. “After four years of looking forward to walking with him at graduation, like so many others the celebration was lots of Blue and Gray at home,” she writes. Thinking of her nursing days and wanting to express gratitude for all the front-line health care providers in some small way, Sarah secured and delivered meals and cases of food and raised financial support for her local hospital. She writes that she is proud of her fellow Hoyas who have been providing care during the pandemic. 

Class of 1982

Anne Parsons Marchant (BSN) spent her nursing career on children’s health for 35 years and now operates a yoga business through which she collaborates with mental health providers to help address trauma. She is focusing on allyship and antiracism, as well as paying more attention to the significance of yearslong “data detailing health disparities that could not be more clear.” Anne lost a close friend to COVID-19.

Class of 1985

Catherine Joy Manz Goodhue (BSN) is a pediatric nurse practitioner in pediatric surgery/trauma program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. She coedited the new text, Nursing Management of Pediatric Disaster (Springer).

Kathy (Rawlings) Mucci (BSN) is the assistant vice president of perioperative services at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, a leadership role she began in February 2019. She holds an MBA. (Read a story about Kathy.)

Class of 1988

Carolyn Gugerty Hrdlick (BSN) worked at Johns Hopkins Hospital for 13 years in pediatrics as a clinical nurse and in the pediatric nursing office. She received an MBA from Johns Hopkins University in 2000. She took a few years off to raise her family, including 21-year-old daughter and 19-year-old twin sons. In 2010, her dream of owning her own home health care agency was achieved, and she has a business helping clients stay in their homes at an otherwise challenging time, in Baltimore County and surrounding areas in Maryland. Her passion for improving the quality of life of her client and their family is stellar. In her free time, she enjoys being with her family, walking, playing tennis, skiing, and watching the sunset in Nantucket.

Class of 1990

Lori (Watka) Fontaine (BSN), the vice president for global clinical affairs at Hologic, Inc., was chosen for the 2019 Outstanding Women in Business, the Worcester Business Journal’s most selective award. (Read about the award.). Her boss, Pete Valenti, stated, “Her functional expertise is incredible, but it’s really her commitment to the community around her, like making sure women have strong opportunities in leadership that goes beyond doing her job well.”

Class of 1993

L. Andrea French (BSN) has been the director of quality and patient safety for Ascension Living in Washington, DC, since February 2019.  She received a JD from Howard University in 2000.  And following two years at a law firm, three years in nursing leadership, and 12 years as a consultant for the U.S. Navy’s Office of Risk and Quality Management, she also earned her master’s in nursing informatics at University of Maryland at Baltimore in 2017.

Abigail Atienza Phillips (BSN, MS-Nursing 1997), who earned her master’s degree in the Family Nurse Practitioner Program, is married with three children and lives in Northern Virginia. She is currently working for Kaiser Permanente and works for Catholic Charities Mother of Mercy Free Medical Clinic in Woodbridge, Virginia. She enjoys providing health care to the poor and underserved. 

Class of 1997

Lois Wessel (MS-Nursing) is a faculty member in Georgetown’s Family Nurse Practitioner Program. She recently completed her doctor of nursing practice degree at Catholic University of America.

Class of 2000

Claire Piccirillo (MS-Integrated Health Systems) became the new chief nursing officer of MedStar Montgomery Medical Center. Claire also holds the doctor of nursing practice degree. (Read a story about Claire.) 

Class of 2001

Elizabeth Ann Keating (BS-Health Studies) graduated with a double major in health studies (women’s health track) and psychology. She has created two successful business ventures – a renowned, full-service branding agency, Revolver New York, and a beauty and luxury group, BESPOKE, as a sub-division of Publicis Groupe. She is involved with various organizations, including co-founding a nonprofit and co-chairing the LGBTQ+ Family Alliance at St. Luke’s.

Class of 2006

Ashley Darcy-Mahoney (BSN), a tenured associate professor at George Washington University School of Nursing, has been selected as the National Academy of Medicine Distinguished Nurse Scholar-in-Residence, a decades-long initiatives supported by the American Academy of Nursing, the American Nurses Association, and the American Nurses Foundation.

Class of 2010

Maura Woods (BS-Health Care Management & Policy) graduated cum laude from Marquette University Law School in May 2020. After graduating with a master’s in forensic psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology in 2015, she realized the law is where she can make more of an impact. She is currently working at a boutique law firm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

Class of 2011

Kyu Jin Choi (BS-Human Science) graduated from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in 2017. He is currently serving the United States Navy as a lieutenant of the Dental Corps, and he is deployed at Naval Hospital Guam treating the active duty population there.

Swathi Iyengar (BS-International Health) is a World Health Organization technical officer. She was named to a Forbes 30 Under 30 list for science and health care. (Read about this honor.)

Class of 2012 

Megan Berard (BSN) is now a family nurse practitioner at an outpatient cardiology clinic in Austin. (Read a story about Megan.)

Class of 2014

Sarah Lloyd (BS-International Health) graduated from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in the spring of 2020. She is excited to utilize her degree in international health from Georgetown as she begins residency at Swedish Cherry Hill Family Medicine Residency in Seattle, Washington. She is looking forward to the new adventures to come while living on the West Coast.  

Chelsea Redman (BS-Health Care Management & Policy) is pursuing a doctor of public health (DrPH) in quality and patient safety at Johns Hopkins University. She currently works as a program coordinator for the Center for Patient Safety Research and Innovation at Columbia University. She also received a master of public health from Columbia University. She is passionate about building a career focused on leadership, teaching, and bringing a health equity lens to patient safety research.

Class of 2015

Michael Menchaca (MS-Nursing) graduated from the Family Nurse Practitioner Program and later founded Menchaca Family Clinic in Harlingen, Texas. In mid-July, the clinic marked its third anniversary. (Read a story about Michael.)

Class of 2016

Margaret Li Krackeler (BS-Human Science, Medicine 2020) graduated from Georgetown University School of Medicine this May and started her internal medicine residency at UC Davis Health in Sacramento, California. 

Aileen Lee (BS-International Health), who has served with AmeriCorps VISTA in Arizona, has been awarded a Primary Care Physician Scholarship to attend the University of Arizona College of Medicine at Tucson. After medical school, in exchange for the full-tuition scholarship, Aileen has committed to practicing primary care medicine in a rural or underserved area of Arizona. (Read a story about Aileen.)

Nicholas Santaniello (BS-Human Science) recently finished medical school at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine, where he graduated first in his class. Nick graduated early to assist with the COVID-19 response in New York, and he is now pursuing his residency in pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). (Read a story about Nicholas.)

Paige Yang (BSN) received her doctor of nursing practice degree this spring. While pursuing her doctoral degree, Paige also published a book focusing on the mental health needs of the Asian American community titled, Speak Up: Unsilencing the voices of Asian Americans. She hopes that through her book and through the continued effort and leadership from prominent members of the community, disparities in the delivery of mental health services can be reduced.

Class of 2017

Julie Helm (MS-Nursing) is a graduate of the online Family Nurse Practitioner Program. Since graduation, she has worked in family medicine in California, completed an advanced certification through Institute for Functional Medicine, and serves as a clinical faculty advisor to California FNP students in Georgetown’s program. Julie is married to Mark with two adult children and a daughter-in-law. She is very blessed to be part of the stellar faculty at Georgetown NHS.

Allyn Rosenberger (BS-Health Care Management & Policy) graduated in June 2020 from Stanford Law School with her doctor of jurisprudence degree and from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with her master of public health degree. This fall, she will begin work with the law firm McDermott, Will & Emery as a member of the Washington, DC health group.

Kayla Schmittau (BS-Human Science) has begun medical school at Rush Medical College in Chicago, Illinois.

Molly Robeson Wilcox (MS-Nursing) married Ernest Roy Taylor III on October 26, 2019 in Wilmington, Delaware.

Class of 2018

Mary Catherine Keckeisen (BSN), who is working as a critical care nurse in Dallas on the COVID-19 response, is featured in the New York Times story, “In Harm’s Way: Fighting the Summer Surge.” (Read about Mary Catherine.)

Raynard Ware (MS-Health Systems Administration) is now vice president of operations at Palms of Pasadena Hospital, an affiliate of HCA Healthcare. In his administrative role, Ray has been helping lead the hospital’s COVID-19 response in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Read a story about Raynard.)

Class of 2019

Michaela Hitchner (BS-Global Health) is a student at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and she has recently started a podcast with two of her peers there about being first generation and/or low income students in medicine. The podcast is called Med Legs: Finding Your Footing as a First Generation and/or Low Income Student in Medicine.

Robert Longyear (BS-Health Care Management & Policy) wrote the book Innovating for Wellness: Bridging the Gap between Health System and Patient.

Published August 2020, Issue 13