CONTACT - Volume 10, Number 1
Celebrations of Success

At the February 2003 Alumni Association Annual Awards Dinner, Debbie Nogueras '94, MSN '98 received the Distinguished Graduate of the Last Decade Award for her community service, scholarly activity, and numerous awards and other recognition. "I am so honored to receive this award from the Alumni Association. Barry University has played a pivotal role in my personal and professional life for the past 10 years. I am fortunate that I now have the opportunity to give back to the University what it has taught me." Nogueras is Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, Division of Nursing. Pictured below (right to left) with Nogueras are Alumni Secretary and nursing alum Olga Contera '77, Sr. Sarah Cavanaugh, and Dr. Pegge L. Bell.

As a nursing student at Barry College, I had a rich education in both the science and art of nursing. I was taught to think and use that thinking to direct my actions in practice. I never remember being simply taught a skill or procedure without the corresponding theory and scientific rationale. Critical thinking and problem solving were at the core of my development as a nurse. The faculty fostered my sense of competence and confidence that I use today in my personal and professional life. A Barry education is world class, which has supported me in my dreams and aspirations.

I recently retired from the United States Public Health Service as a Rear Admiral. I had spent over 20 years as the Chief Nurse Officer at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. I am faculty at the University of Maryland Division of Nursing and President of Health Strategies, LLC. I love the excitement of change and innovation within organizations. My research focuses on the development and evaluation of professional health care teams and coalitions. I completed my MSN in psychiatric nursing from Catholic University of America and my Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.

RADM Kathryn Lothschuetz Montgomery '73 (ret USPHS)

My fondest memory of nursing at Barry University is: There are SO many! Barry College/University was a totally positive life experience for me that I still treasure to this day. My nursing memories are inseparable from the entire experience. My nursing classmates remain special; we were only 13 and many remain in touch 31 years later. We grew up together and learned to value human life and the trust we were given by patients and their families: Bonnie Pilon '72, Senior Associate Dean Vanderbilt University Division of Nursing.

My fondest memory of nursing division at Barry University is being accepted by my younger classmates and the one on one relationships with my instructors. Barry was indeed the family away from home for me: Elizabeth Redmond '88 with Dr. Shirley Schartz (right).

My fondest memory of nursing division at Barry University is of fellowship with the students and faculty: Jessie Thrasher ('61, MSEd'87).

It was a thousand years ago that I graduated (1962) from the Division of Nursing. I went into ELV (Extension Lay Volunteers) to Ft. Smith AR and then returned to Coral Gables by way of Washington DC where I met my husband Paul (37 years married). We settled in Wilmington, DE.

My years at Barry were "brain stretching" and only in the past few years I have realized the energy I received in turn from any teachers. I learned to think logically, to question, to analyze. None of this was focused inward as I truly believed that as a nurse I was gifted to help others and I know that I have. In the last 5-10 years I have used my creative energies to explore alternative forms of medicine and healing. Thankfully, my nurse friends who are actively in the profession are also fusing their past learning with the newer (actually ancient) approaches to patient care. This is good. I congratulate all those past, present and future in the profession at Barry University. Natalie McCleskey Crawford '62.

My affiliation with the Barry SON began as a newly appointed assistant manager at Baptist Hospital of Miami. A requirement of this position was enrollment in a BSN. Several peers at Baptist had returned to BU and spoke very highly of the program. I decided to jump right in and before I knew it I had a meeting with Dr. Victoria Schoolcraft. Together we set a plan for attaining my BSN. Dr. Schoolcraft met with me each semester and always was available as a support system. She represented just one of many faculties who provided an environment of learning and professionalism. The RN-BSN program truly built on my past nursing education and taught me to think out of the box and to be a patient and nurse advocate! Further, the faculty espoused the learning process that does not end with an earned degree. Following that advice I can say that BUSON provided me with the inspiration to continue on the educational path and earn MSN and MBA degrees. Thank you Barry University Division of Nursing!

Jonathon Brown , BSN '91
Vice President of Patient Care Services
Adirondack Medical Center (NY)

I was elated to receive a Presidential Scholarship to enter the 1984 Charter class of Barry's Accelerated Option in Nursing for the BSN. Barry's environment was warm and familial, and the Division of Nursing faculty treated us like the adult learners we were. Dr. Judith Balcerski gave me the Dean's Award at graduation, a memory I prize to this day along with my memories of walking those hallowed halls.

After completing the MSN at the University of Miami, I relocated to the US-Mexico border at El Paso where I worked as a Family Nurse Practitioner in a new primary care family health center founded by the Daughters of Charity. This full scope clinical practice with underserved Hispanics/Latinos on the border led me to eventually accept a full time faculty position at the University of Texas at El Paso where I initiated the FNP option within a new community health major for the MSN. Since then I've earned my Ph.D. and now teach at the University of San Diego. My research interests are migration and health in the context of a postcolonial world and economic globalization.

Sharon McGuire , OP '84
Assistant Professor, Hahn Division of Nursing and Health Science
University of San Diego

My experience at Barry provided me much more that an excellent education, which it did. I started at Barry as a freshman more than 1000 miles from home. The faculty, staff, and leadership of the college shared their knowledge, guidance and counsel with me to help me adjust to this new independence I found. Though I took several loans and received several grants to fund my nursing education; the investment has retuned a thousand times! I will always feel a debt of gratitude to Barry University and am proud to be an alum.

Heather J. Rohan '77, MBA '89
Chief Executive Officer Palms West Hospital
Palm Beach County, Florida

Dean Bell received the Honorary Alumnus Award from the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences Nurses Alumni Association in recognition of her outstanding contributions to UAMS College of Nursing and the Nursing Profession. Joann Smith (above right), Association President, presented the award.

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