History in the Making

When any one of our alumni shines, our entire School shares in the glow. As we open Alumni Weekend, news from several of our graduates gives us even more reason to celebrate. At a time when the voices of nurses are becoming even more important – and I believe more powerful -- than ever, Penn Nursing graduates take the lead in education, health, and science. Here are just three distinguished examples.

Divina Grossman, GRN’89, has been named chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Dr. Grossman has served as Florida International University’s founding vice president for engagement, developing partnerships at local, state, national, and global levels. In this role, she also led a university-wide effort to coordinate and expand internship opportunities for students. Dr. Grossman, an expert in biological rhythms and fever management, chairs the health disparities task force of the American Academy of Nursing. Her reputation as an energetic and outgoing leader is a hallmark of our Penn Nursing alumni.

Eileen Sullivan-Marx, HUP’72, Nu’76, Gr’95, has been named dean of the College of Nursing at New York University. At Penn Nursing, Dr. Sullivan-Marx has been a professor of scholarly practice, associate dean for practice and community affairs and Shearer Endowed Term Chair for Healthy Community Practices in the Penn School of Nursing. Her leadership has been extraordinary, overseeing Penn Nursing’s practice and community mission through oversight of our School’s Program of All-Inclusive Care of the Elderly (PACE), our Living Independently For Elders (LIFE) program, our Healthy in Philadelphia Initiative, our Penn Nursing Consultation Service, our Penn Council of Nurses, and our Center for Professional Development. Of course we will miss Dr. Sullivan-Marx, but her national leadership is a reflection on her HUP and Penn Nursing education and on the excellence of our School.

And our newest graduates already are shooting stars. As he joins the ranks of our alumni on Monday, James Calderwood, Nu’12, W’12, has been selected as a U.S. Congressional intern. His work as a student demonstrates that he does indeed care to change the world. Mr. Calderwood was a medical assistant at DoCare International, which serves in remote areas of the world, and a team leader with the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative in West Philadelphia.  As an intern focusing on health policy, he will make his alma mater proud. We have great expectations for all our 2012 alumni!
This is a most exciting weekend when we welcome back our graduates for Alumni Weekend and draw our 125th anniversary commemoration to a close. We look forward to hearing more about the accomplishments of our alumni as Penn Nursing continues to make history. Update us on your achievements anytime at www.nursing.upenn.edu/alumni. Hurrah for the Red and the Blue!

And the Winners Are...

When the University of Pennsylvania chose the “Year of Games: Body and Mind” as the theme for this academic year, we said “Game on!” I am proud to say that Penn Nursing took the Year of Games farther than we ever anticipated. We developed the Game Solutions for Healthcare competition. The goal: To use technological innovation, games, and entrepreneurship as conduits to better health. Ten interdisciplinary teams of students, faculty, and staff took their ideas from promise to prototype.

We just announced the winners of our inaugural Game Solutions for Healthcare competition. They are:

FIRST PLACE MyDiaText, a text message goal reminder system for children aged 10-14 recently diagnosed with Type I diabetes.

SECOND PLACE Trigger Buster, a mobile educational health game to help children and their families learn about asthma.

THIRD PLACE Healthy Cities: Healthy Women, an educational, interactive, solution-based game designed to raise awareness of urban women’s health issues.

SOCIAL IMPACT AWARD Mission Reintegration, a discussion-starter game for military personnel on aspects of reintegration, interpersonal relationships, symptom recognition and management.

I am so proud of our winners, and all our teams. They have re-conceptualized game-playing as a path to health education, awareness, and treatment. These innovations could put nurses in the position of being entrepreneurs: That is value added to nursing science and nursing care.

The champion behind all these games is Dr. Nancy Hanrahan, the Penn Nursing associate professor who guided, mentored, inspired, and challenged the school community to develop so many promising games. For any new initiative, we need a champion, and Nancy has been ours.

So, what is our post-game plan? We will take the summer to consider next steps, how we are going to “level up.” 

Check back in September for the next round!