MU Sinclair School of Nursing recognizes award recipients at annual banquet
COLUMBIA , Mo. – For more than 100 years, the MU Sinclair School of Nursing has graduated students with nursing expertise and knowledge that has benefited individuals and families across the United States. In honor of all alumni, the school hosted its 18 th Annual School of Nursing Banquet and Awards Ceremony.
This event was held to recognize those individuals who have elevated the reputation, research, teaching and service at the University's school of nursing. Students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the school were honored on April 11 at the Holiday Inn Executive Center in Columbia, Mo. in front of 500 guests.
The school's highest honor — Distinguished Friend of the School — was awarded to Kenneth and Barbara Levy and Dr. LeRoy Essig .
The Levys were honored for incorporating their passion into providing growth and scope of the University's mission. Their ultimate goal is to help the School prepare outstanding nursing students by providing the technological aspects that will make the Clinical Simulation Learning Center a reality.
Dr. Essig was honored for his belief in the School's vision of inspiring future generations of nursing students by giving them the best educational facilities available. He stepped forward as the principle partner in the School's quest to elevate the School's Skills Lab to a true Clinical Simulation Learning Center .
Alumni awards bestowed by the Nursing Alumni Organization included: Dr. Martha Barnard, BSN '66 , Citation of Merit recipient. As the senior faculty member at the University of Kansas Medical Center she teaches courses to medical students, residents and medical fellows. She feels it is important that a nursing perspective is incorporated in medical education . Barnard combines her knowledge of the human mind and body to treat children with challenging medical and psychological problems.
Suzanne Cram, BSN '69, Alumnus of the Year recipient, has walked the halls of acute-care hospitals serving her community's health care needs for 39 years. She has proven time and time again that forging interdisciplinary teams can make substantial improvements in the health care arena. In her current position of chief executive officer at the Desert Canyon Rehabilitation Hospital in Nevada, Cram has brought to life the vision of a compassionate rehab organization that is unsurpassed in quality.
Jacqueline Juenger, BSN ' 89, MS(N) ' 04, Alumnae Achievement Award recipient, has a firm belief in education and supportive role in encouraging nurses to obtain their undergraduate or graduate degree. As the director of medical and oncology services at Boone Hospital Center, she promotes the use of evidence-based practice in patient care, and encourages her nursing staff to be preceptors for Mizzou nursing students.
Ruth Ann Kroth, BSN '58, MS '78, Humanitarian of the Year award recipient, reached out and helped students worldwide achieve their goals. On a three-year mission assignment to Egypt in 1953, she taught nursing in a region where health care was almost nonexistent. As an Mizzou instructor, Kroth supported students' research efforts, answered questions, attended graduations and became family for those away from home.
Dr. Rose Porter, Honorary Alumnae award recipient, has held positions that influenced the future of the MU Sinclair School of Nursing. As the Dean of the School, her love for Mizzou and the nursing profession created her passion for making both the best they could be. Porter's philosophy of continuous quality improvement gave her strength to trust in those she worked with to propel the School to greater heights in all areas. She has always been aware that you can't create excellence in a vacuum. By interacting with other disciplines, every school and college is able to do more than each could do individually.
Other awards handed out included: the Staff Award for Excellence to Thom Bowling; Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching to Erin Kilburn; Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching for Clinical Preceptor to Joseph Johnson; Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching for Community Health Preceptor to Lezlie Dahlke; Faculty Award for Excellence in Service to Jill Scott-Cawiezell; Faculty Award for Excellence in Research to Greg Alexander; Betty Crim Faculty Enhancement Award to Pam Evans-Smith; Interdisciplinary Faculty Award for Excellence to Thomas Reillly, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology.
Students honored for excellence included: Danielle Key, Kara Bonnell, Todd Pollock, Krystle Miller, Amy O'Rear, Chris Lemberger, Agathe McEachern and Todd Ruppar.
“This annual banquet gives us a chance to honor those who have gone the extra mile and in the process elevated the bar of excellence in the field of nursing,” said Dean Rose Porter.