Join us in celebrating Taylor Santangelo and Michelle Jhong, the CU Nursing Alumni Association DAISY Awardees for 2022.
Katelyn Nolan
CU Anschutz
Eucation II North
13120 East 19th Avenue
3rd Floor - Room 3255
Aurora, CO 80045
Join us in celebrating Taylor Santangelo and Michelle Jhong, the CU Nursing Alumni Association DAISY Awardees for 2022.
Marilyn Ray, BSN Class of 1968 and MSN Class of 1969, found nursing when her father fell ill and was hospitalized in her birth country of Canada. “I was amazed by the nurses who cared for him,” she remembers. “They saved his life.” From that experience, Ray began to visualize herself as a nurse and felt motivated to enroll in a diploma program at St. Joseph Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario in 1958.
The University of Colorado College of Nursing Alumni Association Board of Directors is excited to announce three new members: Etzany (Etzy) Diaz Ocampo, Kelsey McDonald Gibson, and Sarah Daley.
Like many nurses, Kyla Wulff, BSN, RN, found her way to nursing after working as a veterinary technician for eight years. As a registered vet tech, she discovered her love for medicine and science but was looking for increased responsibility and a fresh challenge.
Sheila Tann, ND, APRN, CNS, CPNP-CP, found nursing after investigating the characteristics of various healthcare professions. The appeal for her was how nurses work with individuals, families, and communities. Nurses are trained to engage their patients differently from other providers, and for Dr. Tann, that sets them apart. She attests, “Nursing is the perfect combination of science and compassion.”
Dr. Anna Ottney Cain was drawn to nursing through her passion for helping others. She earned her master’s degree in psychiatric nursing at the University of Colorado in 1959 and previously earned her bachelor’s in nursing at The Ohio State University in 1956.
Join us in celebrating Megan Champion and Chantal Dengah, the CU Nursing Alumni Association DAISY Awardees for 2021.
Maddie Nichols, PNP was part of the first Nurse Practitioner cohort of students led by renowned inventor of the NP Profession, Dr. Loretta C. Ford in 1965. Join us as we explore her journey throughout her nursing career.
The CU College of Nursing Alumni Association Board of Directors is excited to announce six new outstanding members. Alumni members of the Board serve 3-year terms with an option for a second term. Please join us in welcoming these alumnae to the Board!
MS Class of 1988 and FNP Class of 1997 alumna, Dixie Melton, learned leadership from CU Nursing professors, ultimately leading to operating her own practice.
The CU College of Nursing Alumni Association is recognizing four incredible alumni for their extraordinary contributions to the profession and community of nursing. The recipients will be celebrated at the CU Nursing Alumni Association Awards on June 10, 2021 at 5pm MDT.
Rhonda Whitten RN, CNM, APRN, has spent the majority of her career as a Midwife and a Women’s Health Practitioner. In March of 2020, Rhonda retired from the University of Cincinnati Hospital after caring for generations of women and their families.
Carol Harvey, MS Class of 1983, has spent her life surrounded by “superwomen”. Her mother was a clinical nurse specialist who didn’t particularly want to see any of her four daughters go into nursing. Harvey watched her older sisters become an attorney, a civil engineer, and a chemical engineer.
Leo Tyler is a University of Colorado Accelerated Nursing (UCAN) student graduating December 2020 and was recently awarded the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Students. Originally from Salt Lake City, Leo moved to Colorado with his husband five years ago.
Simply put, Kelly Prado is a bicultural and bilingual board-certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, but as one can guess, there was nothing simple about her journey to get there.
Mary McMahon received her Master's in Nursing from the CU College of Nursing in 1984 and spent the majority of her nursing career in women's and infants' health. She was a director of perinatal care for more than 12 years, most recently at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs. McMahon then served as a consultant in transformation services for three years. She graduated with the College of Nursing's Healthcare Informatics certificate in 2011.
Alumnus author of "The America that I Didn't Know Existed: Immigrant Experience in American Education."
Katie was born in Chelsea, Alabama July 8, 1933, and graduated from Vincent High School Class of 1953. She was loved throughout life for her goodwill and kindness toward others and was always willing to help friends and neighbors alike. To her three brothers and two sisters, Katie was the sister that went out from the family farm and made things happen.
We ask 3 Questions with CU College of Nursing MSN Alumna, December 2018 Kelly Fisher, RN, BSN, MSN, WHNP.
Searching for stability, Pat Hess found the nursing profession at a time when “women didn’t have much choice”. For Hess and many other women in the 1950s and 1960s, nursing offered a rare opportunity: choice. “Nursing opened up a lot of avenues – there are so many ways to be a nurse.” During Hess’s career, she was able to practice, teach, research, and innovate new programs.
Hess (left) during her time teaching in Japan
Shannon Vogel Perry has dedicated her life to serving, whether through scholarship, in the classroom, or abroad. She graduated with her master's from the University of Colorado College of Nursing in 1971.
Nancy Niles Frost’s career has been driven by her nursing inspiration and her passion for providing exemplary care.
Frost’s journey with the nursing profession started long before she stepped into the classroom. From a young age, she was inspired by her aunt, Mary Margaret Miller, who practiced nursing in many different settings. Remembering her aunt, Frost recounts the various stories she heard growing up. Mary Margaret served as a nurse in World War II, provided care on a Native American Reservation, and was an OR nurse – all while traveling with her husband who was a Marine. Later she became the nursing director at St. Anthony Hospital. Frost notes that three of her first cousins including Mary Margaret’s own daughter, Marilyn Miller (BSN, Class of 67) became nurses, following in the family footsteps.
Jillian Williams graduated from the UCAN Accelerated BSN Program in 2015 from the University of Colorado College of Nursing. Jillian is a pediatric relief charge nurse and outpatient infusion nurse at UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado as well as a home care nurse for Tender Care Pediatric Services in Loveland, Colorado.
From the Challenger explosion that shook the nation to an earthquake that rocked Denver, some of Jan Sanko’s (BSN, ‘86) most memorable moments during her time with CU Nursing are tied to notable events.
For Rocco Miele, RN, nursing wasn’t always the career he held in his sights.
Initially, Miele worked as a construction consultant having attended the University of Colorado Boulder College of Engineering & Applied Science and University of Texas – San Antonio. His change in profession came under unfortunate circumstances.
Recent DAISY Award winner Anastacia Marks, BSN, found her love of nursing while on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus working as a pathology researcher.
Sarah Williams chose the nursing profession for two reasons. From a young age, she felt the pull toward helping women during childbirth. Then, three years ago, her mother passed away from complications with diabetes. Unfortunately, the care that her mother received did not meet the family’s expectations. Inspired to better the system and fulfill her long-time goals, Williams landed on nursing as her career.
Kathryn Mathis discovered nursing when her daughter Lily contracted viral meningitis, which then developed into a serious brain injury. “I wanted to give back. The nurses inspired me… I don’t think I would have ended up here if Lily and I didn’t have that experience.”
Karen Zink’s interest in nursing bloomed from her mother, Marilyn Mason Short, who worked as a diploma nurse. Diploma nursing was a hands-on, skills-oriented approach to training great hospital nurses. Many of Zink’s personality traits may be tied to her mother as well. Her mother was a leader for nursing in the southwest portion of the state and had a hand in the setup of the first emergency department in Mercy Hospital in Durango, Colo., where Zink grew up.
Zipporah Parks Hammond (1924-2011), BS ’46, was the University of Colorado College of Nursing’s first African-American graduate, overcoming the oppressive restrictions that kept black women of her era from pursuing higher education. Zipporah was a humanitarian and civil-rights champion, trailblazer, educator, volunteer, historical and cultural preservationist, mentor, philanthropist and a role model whose contributions to Colorado are both substantial and noteworthy.
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