Laura Thigpen Lenox (BSN ’68) of Greenwood, South Carolina, is enjoying a well‑earned retirement following a distinguished career as administrative director of nursing at Athens Regional Medical Center (now Piedmont Athens Regional) in Athens, Georgia. Since retiring, she has embraced new adventures through travel, most recently journeying to Antarctica with husband Kevin, and remains grateful for the strong foundation her School of Nursing education provided.

Catherine Robertson Ratliff (BSN ’77) of Charlottesville, VA, was recently inducted as a fellow in the Wound Ostomy Continence Nursing Society for exceptional contributions to the WOCN Society and the WOC nursing profession, which included teaching a master's level WOCN Program for 14 years at the UVA School of Nursing.

Mary Ellen Zator Estes (BSN ’81, MSN ’83) of Fairfax, VA, has published the sixth edition of Health Assessment & Physical Examination. The textbook is available from F.A. Davis in both hardback and eBook formats and features more than 1,000 full-color photos and illustrations. Widely adopted, the text is used by numerous schools across the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Notably, fellow Wahoo Nicole Goitia (BSN ’14) contributed a chapter to this latest edition.

Jeannie Scruggs Corey (MSN ’91) of Moneta, VA, was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN) in fall 2025, one of the highest honors in the profession. Dr. Corey serves as coordinator of the graduate health policy certificate program and teaches in the graduate nursing programs. She has designed leadership curricula at three universities, with an emphasis on interprofessional education, health policy advocacy, and nursing’s impact on healthcare outcomes.

After many years of dedicated service to the School of Nursing and the University of Virginia health system, Richard Ridge (PHD ’01, MSN-PMHNP ’25), retired from teaching at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year to go into clinical practice. He plans to continue his impactful work as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, focusing on the care of impaired and distressed health professionals. In conjunction with this work, he recently launched a podcast: Nursing – An Open Mind. Thinking Forward. Staying Curious.

After working in the UVA Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Hannah Y. Lee (BSN ’09) of Charlottesville, VA, moved to New York City to complete her master’s degree in nursing at Columbia University. From 2014 to 2025, she served at New York Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital in the Program for Pediatric Advanced Cardiac Care and Transplantation, where she developed a healthcare transition program for young adults moving into adult heart transplant care. In recognition of her leadership, clinical innovation, and service, she received Columbia University School of Nursing’s Early Career Alumni Association Award. Hannah completed a part‑time master’s degree in Health Policy and Management at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in 2025 and has since returned to UVA Health as service line manager for adult thoracic transplant.

Neil E. Peterson (MSN ’11, CERTI‑AGACNP ’13) of Vineyard, UT, is a member of a research team that received the first‑ever National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grant awarded to the Brigham Young University College of Nursing. The three‑year grant totals more than $400,000 and supports a collaborative study examining how coping behaviors, such as eating habits, physical activity, communication, and stress management, affect blood sugar control in couples where one partner has type 1 diabetes. The project is a collaboration among BYU, the University of Utah, the University of Delaware, and Intermountain Health. Led by primary investigator Jeremy Yorgason of BYU’s School of Family Life, Dr. Peterson’s role includes analyzing data from devices measuring physical activity and sleep patterns.

Lisa Letzkus (PhD ’16) of Earlysville, VA, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Virginia, is leading a national study to improve early detection of cerebral palsy. Supported by a five‑year, $3.1 million NIH grant, the research team is developing a new tool that uses routinely-collected NICU data to identify infants at high risk earlier, helping ensure timelier intervention and improved outcomes for children and families.

Sophie Dornfeld (BSN ’21) recently began a new role as nurse manager at Ezra Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. A graduate with distinction from the University of Virginia School of Nursing, she previously served as a Labor and Delivery Registered Nurse at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and gained additional experience at UPMC Magee‑Womens Hospital and Hadassah Hospital Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem.

James Thomas Edwards (BSN ’25) of Wilmington, DE, is an RN at Nemours. In summer 2025, he had the experience of a lifetime when he and a group of friends summited Mount Kilimanjaro.