uncnews.unc.edu

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing will honor four recipients with alumni awards on Wednesday (Nov. 30).

The awardees are Maj. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho; Linda Cronenwett, Ph.D.; Meg Zomorodi, Ph.D.; and Jennifer Bland.

Kristen M. Swanson, Ph.D., dean and Alumni Distinguished Professor in the school, will present the awards during a reception in the George Watts Hill Alumni Center.

Alumna of the Year
Horoho will receive the Alumna of the Year Award for her outstanding service to the field of nursing through promotion of health care, tireless service and scholarly efforts. In early December, she will assume the role of 43rd Army surgeon general as the first non-physician and female to hold this position. At the time, she also will be promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. Currently, she is the U.S. Army deputy surgeon general and chief of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps.

Born in Fayetteville, N.C., Horoho earned a bachelor of science in nursing from the school and a master of science degree as a clinical trauma nurse specialist from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a resident graduate of the Army’s Command and General Staff College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, where she earned a second master of science degree in national resource strategy.

Her other honors  include being recognized by Time Life Publications for her actions at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. She was among 15 nurses selected by the American Red Cross and Nursing Spectrum magazine to receive national recognition as a “Nurse Hero” in 2002 and was the USO’s “Woman of the Year” in 2009.

Honorary Alumna Award
Cronenwett will receive the Honorary Alumna Award, which recognizes a non-graduate of the school who demonstrates distinction in the nursing profession and outstanding support to the school. Cronenwett is the Beerstecher-Blackwell Term Professor and was the school’s dean from 1999 to 2009.

As dean she began the first and only psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner master of science program in the state, oversaw completion of the new addition to Carrington Hall and increased the school’s commitment to multiculturalism and diversity. She earned a master’s degree in parent-child nursing from the University of Washington and undergraduate and doctoral degrees in nursing from the University of Michigan.

Cronenwett is co-director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Executive Nurse Fellows program and principal investigator of the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses national initiative. She is on the boards of directors of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation and the North Carolina Institute of Medicine, chairs the North Carolina Center for Hospital Quality and Patient Safety, and is an appointed member of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ special medical advisory group.

Graduate of the Last Decade
Zomorodi will receive the Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) Award, which goes to an alumna or alumnus who graduated within the past 10 years and has made outstanding contributions to the school, profession, community or nation. Zomorodi is a clinical associate professor in the school, where she also earned undergraduate and doctoral degrees in nursing.

Zomorodi is conducting research at Duke University Medical Center. Her research interests include intensive care nursing, leadership skills, nursing competency and issues related to end-of-life care. She is a member of the Hospice and Palliative Care Nurses Association, the Alpha Alpha Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, the UNC School of Nursing Alumni Board and the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. She traveled to Uganda twice with Duke Neurosurgical Services, most recently taking eight undergraduate UNC nursing students as part of a clinical summer work experience.

Carrington Award for Community Service
Bland will be honored with the Carrington Award for Community Service, which recognizes remarkable service to the community, state or other entities and for reflecting favorably on the school through this service. Bland is a senior clinical nurse and the orientation coordinator on the intermediate and step-down units for Duke’s Neuroscience Center. She received her bachelor of science in nursing through the school and also attended the Watts School of Nursing. In 2007 she journeyed to Uganda as a member of the Duke Neurosurgery Medical Mission Team and has since made additional trips to the region.

Media note: To schedule an interview with Horoho or to attend the awards reception on Nov. 30, please contact Nancy Lamontagne and Patric Lane.

School of Nursing contact: Nancy Lamontagne, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it    
News Services contact: Patric Lane, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it