Distinguished Alumna of the Year Award

DR. BARBARA RYDBERG BROWN, NURS '55, GRAD '60, '70
Tucson, Ariz.

Barbara was founding editor of Nursing Administration Quarterly, which she led for 37 years, including during the Gulf War while serving as associate executive director at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She also was chief nursing officer at two Magnet hospitals during the original Magnet study in 1983; helped set up three U.S. military evacuation hospitals; was honored as an honorary colonel; and served as faculty in nursing and health care administration at many universities.

 

Distinguished Alumna in Service to Nursing Award

BARBARA DUNPHY LENT, NURS '64
Fond du Lac, Wis.

Barbara has dedicated her life to righting health- and wellness-related injustices at home and abroad. With her husband John and other health care professionals, she founded United Hearts for Health, a foundation that provides health care to those in need in Rosita, Nicaragua. She's also co-chair of the development board of the St. Vincent de Paul Society and active with the Tobacco Control Coalition, which seeks to keep children tobacco-free and advocates for public health policy.

 

Friends of the College of Nursing Award

SUSAN CRONIN REAL, BUS AD '81,
AND DANIEL S. REAL, BUS AD '81
Burr Ridge, Ill.

“To those who have been given much, much is expected in return.” These words guide the lives of Susan and Dan, who blended their philanthropic priorities — scholarship aid at Marquette and LaRabida Children’s Hospital in Chicago — to establish the Daniel and Susan Cronin Real Scholarship. Recipients, who are undergraduate nursing students, participate in an externship at LaRabida, on whose board Dan serves, and become eligible for scholarship assistance upon completion.