Class News
1970s
Dr. Nancy Langston 72MN is retiring this summer from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing, where she has served as dean for 22 years. Under her guidance, the school doubled its enrollment, grew its education programs, established a base in biobehavioral clinical research, opened a new building, and created a national model for community outreach. Langston is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the Academy of Nursing Education and former president of the National League for Nursing. In 2011, she received the Nancy Vance Award, the highest honor for nursing excellence, from the Virginia Nurses Association.
Sandra Segrest Van Sant 73OX 75N 78MN 02MPH published “Impacts of Climate Change on a Local Public Health System” in the NACCHO Exchange (Summer 2012). Van Sant works at Monmouth County Regional Health in Ocean Township, N.J. She and her husband, Mark, live nearby.
Naomi Fistel Teperow 77N relocated to Erie, Penn., after practicing for 29 years at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. She now serves at UPMC/Hamot Medical Center as director of Advanced Practice Providers for Cardiovascular Surgery and coordinator of the Transcatheter AVR program.
Dr. Susan Sullivan-Bolyai 78MN will be inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing this fall. She serves on the faculty of the Graduate School of Nursing at the University of Massachusetts, Worcester.
Dr. Susan Armstrong Ashford 79MN 05PhD is an associate professor at Clayton State University in Morrow, Ga.
Dr. Victoria Smith Harkins 79N graduated in 2012 from Medical University of South Carolina with a doctorate in health care administration.
1980s
Carol K. Biery 80MN is a family nurse practitioner in the women’s health division of the Orange County Health Department in Florida. She also serves on the adjunct faculty at the University of Central Florida, where she leads the women’s health practicum in the graduate program.
J. Michael Pate 81MN completed his assignment at the American Embassy in Baghdad. He now serves as the first secretary for medical affairs in the U.K. and is assigned to the American Embassy in London for three years.
Dr. Cecilia Jevitt 83MN joined Yale University School of Nursing as an associate professor in midwifery. Her research focuses on obesity prevention and weight maintenance in women’s health, especially in the prenatal and postpartum periods. Last year, Jevitt was named Reviewer of the Year in the Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health.
Dr. Debianne Villines Peterman 84MN was appointed vice president and chief nursing officer for Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, N.Y. “I am very excited to return home to Buffalo and the hospital where I was born,” she says.
Dr. Corrine Abraham 85MN completed her DNP at the University of Minnesota. Her capstone project was titled, “Achieving Zero Central Line-Associated Blood Stream Infections.” She is a VA Quality Scholars Advanced Fellow at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center and will return to her Emory nursing faculty position next year.
Martha Ford Heubach 89MN is CEO of Promise Hospital of San Diego, a long-term acute care hospital that is part of Promise Healthcare.
1990s
Marjorie (Margie) Johnson 90MN is promoting health in her church and community in Tennille, Ga. After learning that the nearest cancer support group was 30 minutes away, Johnson and the Rev. William Jeffrey Cook 11T launched the Washington County cancer support group, which meets monthly at Tennille United Methodist Church and inspired other congregation members to become involved. Johnson and Cook were featured in the South GA Advocate (see sgaumc.org/news/detail/9602). She is assistant professor emeritus at the Georgia College and State University School of Nursing in Milledgeville.
Renice A. Washington 91N is a nurse practitioner at Northside Hospital in Atlanta.
Dr. Christina Mehriary 92N has published her first book, Hybris...End of Days. The work of fiction depicts cyberterrorism, involving the use of drones to calculate GPS coordinates for missile delivery, with global implications for humankind. Christina practices family medicine in Kissimmee, Fla.
Glenn Prescott 94N is a nursing program manager in the clinical recruitment section of the Shepherd Center in Atlanta.
2000s
Paul A. Robinson 00MN is a regional medical scientist in the Division of HIV & Virology with Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals. He has extensive experience in educating patients and health care providers in HIV pathogenesis, treatment options, and metabolic disorders.
Lerryn Upton Crocker 01MN is chief nursing officer at Frye Regional Medical Center in Hickory, N.C.
Katrina M. Dryer 01MN is a nurse practitioner at Innovative Healthcare Management, LLC, based in Phoenix, Ariz.
BORN: To Adele Iskra Clay 03MN and her husband, Chris, a daughter, Emory Maeve, on Jan. 24, 2013. She joins big sister Linnea and big brother Chase. The family lives in New Britain, Conn.
Emily Mason Beard 04N is a multidisciplinary care coordinator at Northside Hospital Cancer Institute in Atlanta.
Corinne (Corie) Wafler Braender 02OX 04N 10MN is a pediatric nurse practitioner in pediatric neurosurgery at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Kimberly Ann Brinker 04N 12MN/MPH is an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer and nurse epidemiologist at the CDC.
Dr. Laura M. Wagner 04G will be inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing this fall. She serves on the nursing faculty at the University of California, San Francisco.
Robin Richins 05MN is working at Northside Hospital in Atlanta.
Benson C. Wright 05N is president of professional nursing staff at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
MARRIED: Christine L. Johnson 06N and Conrad Elton Hyde on Nov. 3, 2012, at St. Jude Catholic Church in Sapphire Valley, N.C. She is practices at Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga, Tenn., where they reside.
Amy Lahey 06N received the Laura Snitzer Boozer Nursing Award for outstanding nurses at the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Melissa Linville 06MN is a certified pediatric nurse practioner–acute care in neurosurgery services at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.
Maureen E. Newton 06MN is a nurse practitioner at Skyland Trail, a residential mental health treatment center in Atlanta.
Alexandra Brennan 08N saw firsthand the impact of Hurricane Sandy on people and property as an American Red Cross volunteer in New Jersey last November. For 14 days, she assisted with community outreach and worked 12-hour shifts in various shelters, primarily in South Jersey. “I was drained and fulfilled—all at once,” she writes. “I realized just how flexible I had become since that first day of clinical as a student nurse.” Alexandra now serves as a clinical research coordinator at the Neurological Institute of Savannah and Center for Spine.
Randy Evans 08N received the Outstanding Patient Advocate Award from The Emory Clinic during National Nurses Week. Evans works in the cardiology clinic at Emory University Hospital Midtown—the very hospital where he nearly died during quadruple bypass surgery. “He uses his own history of triumph over adversity to form therapeutic and symbiotic relationships with his patients,” writes manager and colleague Diana Harmon, who nominated Randy for the award. “These relationships enable Randy to have an intuitive knowledge of what his patients need and to bridge gaps regardless of race, age, or gender.”
MARRIED: Martha Lincoln 06OX 08N and Sean Tamblyn on Sept. 15, 2012.
Andrea Christine Maclin 11MN joined Athens Women’s Clinic as a nurse practitioner.
Last fall, Kim Hanks 12N and Christy Rieke 12N organized a Compassion Health Fair in Walton County, Georgia. The fair provided free health care to residents age 55 and older. What began with fewer than 10 booths grew to more than 40. County and local hospitals participated, as did Emory nursing students, who used the fair as a clinical placement. Learn more at compassionhealthfair.org.
Arielle Hayden 09OX 12N is working at North Carolina Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill, N.C.
BORN: To Andrew Koroma 12N and his wife, Marla, a son, Tunde Abraham, on April 3, 2013.
Esha Deepak Parikh 12N is a nurse at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, Fla.
Jenna Walck 12N is working at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.
Share Your News with UsPlease send your news and latest contact information to alumni@nursing.emory.edu. Or visit alumni.emory.edu/updateinfo.php. |
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Emory Nursing in the World
Mary Erickson 70N 71MN read her copy of Emory Magazine on a visit to Zakopane, Poland, last fall. She is also a fan of Emory Nursing. Erickson taught nursing at the University of West Georgia for 30 years. Where are you reading Emory Nursing? Send your photos from near and far to elizabeth.powell@emory.edu. |
A Golden Heart
Each year, Emory alumni who graduated 50 or more years ago don golden robes to march with graduates during commencement. They are members of Corpus Cordis Aureum (CCA), the Latin term for “the golden corps of the heart.” This year, CCA member Barbara Reed 57N 79MN received the Judson C. Ward “Jake’s” Golden Heart Award, presented by the Emory Alumni Association (EAA) for service, generosity of spirit, and loyalty to the university. During her nursing career, Reed specialized in geriatrics and pain management. As the first clinical nurse specialist in pain management at Emory University Hospital, she developed protocols for managing acute, chronic, and cancer pain. She served as a clinical researcher and adjunct clinical faculty member in the School of Nursing and remains an active member of the EAA and the Nurses’ Alumni Association, which she led twice as president. She has supported the School of Nursing for more than 40 years by volunteering and providing financial support through annual and planned giving. Reed is the fourth recipient of the Jake’s Golden Heart Award, which honors the memory of Ward 33C 36G, who spent more than 80 years at Emory. When Ward died in 2009 at age 97, he held the title dean of alumni. LEARN MORE: To view a video of award recipient Barbara Reed, visit bit.ly/barbara_reed. |
Sudan Assignment
Earlier this year, Megan Benckert 11MN completed an assignment with Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF) in Southern Sudan. She provided emergency medical relief in Yida refugee camp, where the population swelled from 20,000 to 65,000 refugees just prior to her three months there. “When I arrived, our mortality rate for children under 5 was 25%, which we brought down to 2% through various methods. It was a team effort,” she writes. Benckert was in charge of the outpatient department, which served 1,500 to 2,200 patients a week. She also entered statistics into the MSF epidemiological database and shared them with other relief agencies. The data captured trends to compare with national averages and follow spikes in disease so that refugees could be treated accordingly. “I also collaborated closely with the outreach manager to ensure public health messages were being shared with the community, including how to properly use soap and water, carry water safely from borehole wells, use safe cooking practices, and use newly built latrines,” adds Benckert, who is now back in Southern Sudan on her second assignment as an outreach activities manager. She is responsible for epidemiological surveillance and immunization activities throughout the state of Northern Bahr el Ghazal. |
photo by Anita Sircar
In Memory
1930s
Lucile Goins Newhard 31N of Smithfield, Va., on Sept. 24, 2012, shortly after her 102nd birthday. She practiced nursing in Illinois for several years after graduating from Emory. In 1962, she moved to Wytheville, Va., where she lived for more than 30 years, raised a family, and served the community. In 1994, Lucile moved to Virginia Beach and lived there until relocating to Suffolk/Smithfield in 2006.
1940s
Dorothy Marett Rumble 44N of Redlands, Calif., on Aug. 6, 2012, at age 89. She died peacefully at home from complications of congestive heart failure.
Virginia McCain Kelly 45N of Auburn, Ala., on Feb. 21, 2013, at age 89. Virginia and her husband, Wymon T. Kelly, married in 1946 and raised three daughters in Phenix City, Ala. She served there as director of the Cobb Hospital Nursing Home and as coordinator of the hospital cardiac care unit. She retired from the hospital in 1983. After losing her vision because of macular degeneration, she inspired others by singing in the Lakewood Baptist Amen Choir and dancing at the Monarch Estate Senior Living Facility in Auburn.
Henryetta Watkins 45N of Manchester, Ga., on Dec. 12, 2012, at age 89. As a young nurse, she worked with a local physician and later at the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation, where she became a head nurse. In 1950, she married H.M. Hendricks Sr., the new veterinarian in Manchester. They set up one of the largest vet practices in Georgia. Her children and grandchildren were the focus of her life. In 1995, she married lifelong friend Bill Watkins, a retired Air Force colonel, and they began a new chapter of retired life together. Watkins preceded her in death.
Rosabelle B. Salley 46N of Monroe, Ga., on Aug. 24, 2012, at age 91.
Rose Leverett Robinson 48N, formerly of Hartford, Ala., died peacefully on Jan. 18, 2013, at age 84. She was living with her daughter, Rosemary, in Oakland, Calif. Rose married Dr. Rodney J. Robinson, whom she met at Emory, in 1950. She worked as a nurse in Birmingham, Ala., while he completed dental school. They moved to Hartford and set up a dental practice. She managed the business and worked as a dental hygienist. They had three children.
Mary Hall 49N 62MN 83PhD of East Point, Ga., on May 6, 2013. See "Putting Patients First" story.
Carol Van Brackle Turrentine 49N of Atlanta on May 25, 2013. A native of Winter Park, Fla., she moved to Atlanta to attend Emory, where she met her husband, Julian 50B. Carol was a master gardener and quilter with the sewing ministry at Peachtree United Methodist Church. She was also a member of the Associates at the School of Nursing.
1950s
Doris (Dot) West Powers 50N of Sarasota, Fla., on Oct. 18, 2012, after a valiant fight against cancer.
Mary Taylor Godwin 51N of Conway, S.C., on Jan. 6, 2013, at age 83.
Jean Wilson Luckie 51N of Temple Terrace, Fla., peacefully at home on July 8, 2012, at age 83.
Celeste Cromley Kaul 54N of Montgomery, Ala., on Jan. 17, 2013, at age 85.
Sarah Janet Cox Randall 54N of Phenix City, Ala., at home with family, on March 2, 2013, at age 80. She is survived by her husband of 58 years, Norris Ashley Randall.
Dr. Patricia Ann Moxley 57MN of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., on March 3, 2013, at age 86. Pat was a dedicated nurse who loved nursing education. She attended Columbia University Teachers College, where she received her doctorate of education in 1973. She worked in hospitals in Atlanta, New Orleans, and Americus, Ga. She taught at Southwestern School of Nursing in Shreveport, La., LSU School of Nursing, and Texas Woman’s University in Dallas. She also served as assistant dean at the Medical College of Georgia School of Nursing and at Southwestern School of Nursing.
1960s
Eugenia (Genie) Lowery Jackson 65N of Lake Orion, Mich., on Dec. 8, 2012, at age 70. Survivors include a sister, Wynelle Lowery Butts 61N.
Mary M. MacKinnon 66MN of Atlanta, on Jan. 15, 2013, after a yearlong struggle with lung cancer. Mary worked at the Gerontology Institute at Georgia State University for many years and touched the lives of hundreds of students and colleagues.
Nancy Ellis Neal 66MN of Northport, N.Y., on July 12, 2012, at age 80.
Jennifer (Jeni) Watts Brooks 67N of Colorado Springs, Colo., on Feb. 14, 2010, at age 65, after a long battle with cancer. A native of Huntsville, Ala., she returned there after graduation and was instrumental in bringing the first well-baby clinic to the area. She completed a master’s degree in administrative science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 1980. She enjoyed a successful career in human resources management and worked for Lockheed Martin the last 11 years of her career.
Rolland L. Buckner 67MN of Leonville, La., on Dec. 23, 2011, at age 72. He was a native of Corning, Ark. and served in the U.S. Air Force. He was an RN and an avid motorcyclist.
1970s
Joyce Wheeler Zahner 70MN of Roswell, Ga., on March 16, 2013, at age 86. A native of Penn Yan, N.Y., she graduated from the University of Cincinnati Nursing School and was a practicing nurse for many years before completing her master’s degree in psychiatric nursing at Emory. She married James Lloyd Zahner and lived in Ohio and Illinois before returning to Georgia. They raised their three children in Atlanta. She spent her later years in Roswell.
Barbara Ann Graham 71MN of Charlottesville, Va., on Aug. 19, 2012. In 1949, Barbara entered nursing school in Lynchburg, Va., and worked as an RN at Lynchburg General Hospital. Later, she was a public health nurse in Fairfax County, which inspired her to complete her BSN at the University of Virginia and her MN in public health nursing at Emory. In 1971, she joined the nursing faculty at the University of Virginia, where she completed a doctorate in education and taught until retiring in 1994. Her research focused on health promotion and education and women’s health, including the prevention of osteoporosis.
Benigna H. Meacham 71MN of Brunswick, Ga., at her home on July 22, 2012. A native of Greenville, Miss., she attended nursing school in Little Rock, Ark., before earning her MN in pyschiatric nursing at Emory.
1980s
Col. Betty Cochran Jones 85MN of Townsend, Tenn., on Nov. 13, 2012, at age 64. She was a retired U.S. Army nurse. A specialist in infectious disease, she served as chief of nursing and director of managed care at various locales. After retiring from the military, she became president of E-Care Solutions, a company that developed electronic patient records for civilian hospitals.
Kelly Jean Reed 87MN of Woodstock, Ga., on Jan. 8, 2013, at age 51, after a long battle with cancer. After working several years with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at both Scottish Rite and Egleston, she served with PAMPA (Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, P.A.) for 16 years. Earlier in her nursing career, she was a volunteer at Camp Sunshine and served on the national board of directors for nurse practitioner certification.
Donna Lawson Cannon 88N of Avondale Estates, Ga., on Oct. 1, 2012, at age 45, while undergoing a surgical procedure. Donna cared for patients at DeKalb Medical Center, Decatur Hospital, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite, and Kaiser Permanente. She also taught nursing classes at DeKalb Community College. Her true love was working at DeKalb Medical Cancer Center.
Dr. Karen Mott Weaver 89MN of Fayetteville, Ga., at home on March 31, 2013, at age 66 following a 15-month battle with ovarian cancer. Karon received her EdD from Georgia State University. She served as associate professor of nursing at Clayton State University near Atlanta.
2000s
Frances Eugenia Davis 04MN of Duluth, Ga., on April 3, 2011, at age 64. She was a retired nurse clinician with Emory Healthcare.
Honor Your ClassmatesTribute gifts are an extraordinary way to honor your classmates. You can designate a gift for any occasion—a birthday, anniversary, special achievement, or the passing of a loved one, colleague, or friend. To make a gift, please contact the Office of Development and Alumni Relations at 404-727-6917. |
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