To celebrate their 55th reunion, 13 alumni endowed a new award to recognize nursing faculty. "The Diploma Class of 1968 Legacy Award for Clinical Teaching Excellence" award was underwritten by Stephanie Chamberlin Barnett (DIPLO ’68) and Bob Barnett, Janis Peacock Bellack (DIPLO ’68), Pamela Craddock Row (DIPLO ’68), Leigh Johnson Dakin (DIPLO ’68), Suzanne Marr House (DIPLO ’68) and Ashley G. House, Jr., Sharon Bremer Kirk-Johnston (DIPLO ’68) and Michael Johnston, Louise Weisiger Perry (DIPLO ’68), Claudia Lynn Poole (DIPLO ’68), Micki McMullin White (DIPLO ’68), Maxine Small Willey (DIPLO ’68), Martha Pomeroy Williams (DIPLO ’68), Charlotte Mayer Williams (DIPLO ’68) and Wayne Williams, and Karen Weitz Wood (DIPLO ’68).

Diane Parfitt (BSN ’68) and husband Hank Parfitt (A&S ’70) own and operate City Center Gallery and Books in Fayetteville, NC, where the couple lives. Committed to the revitalization of downtown Fayetteville, they love getting to know travelers who visit their shop, including, recently, the School’s development officer Ruth Cassell (pictured at left, with Diane).

The newest Thomas Jefferson Society members from the BSN Class of 1973 celebrated their 50th reunion in June.

Alvin Garcia (MSN ’06), of Aledo, TX, was promoted to Commander in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. Alvin, a pediatric nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist, is currently enrolled in the Naval Postgraduate School’s MBA program. 

Candace Burton was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing at the group's October induction ceremony in Washington, D.C. An associate professor and director of doctoral education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Candace is a nurse scientist who studies the impact of trauma, trauma-informed approaches, and health disparities. Her expansive research has provided guidance on safe, effective, trauma-informed care to diverse populations. An advanced forensic nurse and forensic nurse educator, she is an associate editor for DEI for Clinical Nursing Research, and on the editorial board of the Journal of Forensic Nursing.

Tim Cunningham (MSN ’09), of Atlanta, GA, vice president of practice and innovation at Emory Healthcare and adjunct associate professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, co-edited Self-Care for Nurses: Small Doses for Wellness (Sigma: 2023), with Dorrie Fontaine, dean emerita, and Natalie May, associate professor of research at UVA School of Nursing. The book came out last May. 

Clinical instructor Mary Oden Howell (BSN ’12, MSN ’15), of Crozet, VA—the first faculty member to earn UVA Health’s Team Member of the Month—was honored for excellence in teaching at a ceremony attended by associate professor Cathy Campbell (at right) in September. 

This fall, Lauren Young Birkett (BSN ’18, MSN-FNP ’22), of Charlottesville, VA, began a part-time DNP program at JMU. Lauren is also developing a protocol for how to address verbal, physical, and sexual abuse by patients to protect practice staff and decrease clinician burnout.

Pediatric nurse practitioner Lisa Cantore Letzkus (PhD ’19), of Charlottesville, VA—who works in neurodevelopmental and behavioral pediatrics at UVA Health—was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing at an October ceremony in Washington, D.C. Lisa studies early identification and treatment of infants at risk for neuro-motor disabilities, their symptoms, and the environmental factors that contribute to their diagnoses.

Fifteen alumni, including four faculty members, were honored at the Virginia Nurses Association gala in Chantilly, VA, with “40 Under 40” awards, including: Charles Bulling (MSN ’14), a nurse practitioner at Carilion Clinic; Centra clinicians Morgan McDowell (DNP ’22) and Carrie White (BSN ’10); UVA Health team members Tyree "Ty" Ashworth (BSN ’16), Jermaine Clayborne (MSN ’20), Matthew Houston (BSN ’16), and Seth McElroy (MSN ’17), and Ainsley Polson (MSN ’12); Sentara Health nurse practitioner Amber Campos (MSN ’22) and Melissa Proffitt (BSN ’14, MSN ’16); and Department of State nurse practitioner Stasia Kodadek (MSN ’15).

A July “Outstanding Preceptor” ceremony at UVA Health honored several alumni who mentor nursing students, including peri-anesthesia clinician Lyndsey Isner (BSN ’15) and Blue Ridge Medical Center nurse practitioner Ben Nissley (BSN ’10, MSN ’16). 

Anna Linehan (BSN ’23) ran into fellow alumna Ruby McKain Claar (MSN ’23) in Texas at Brooke Army Medical Center during their 10-week nurse training for the U.S. Air Force. “Kinda fun to run into UVA folks out in Texas!” quipped Anna, who heads to Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, CA, later this fall.

“We’re slowly taking on the role of a nurse as a preceptor helps introduce us to the world of military nursing. It’s been great to see how the military and nursing mesh together.”