Alumni

Alumna Andra Rush’s U-M School of Nursing education inspired entrepreneurship that has broken barriers and supported communities across the United States and Canada.

Kristi Leicht earned her BSN from the U-M School of Nursing in 2017.

When Pamela Katz Ressler decided to leave her hometown of East Lansing and study nursing at the University of Michigan, she wasn’t sure where it would lead, but she knew something felt right.

Four weeks. Four groups. One choice.

Now more than ever, the world needs nursing to continue its critical role providing high-quality care to patients while leading the transformation of our health care system in the United States. The U-M School of Nursing We Dare Challenge gives those who want to support the next generation of nurses the opportunity to choose which student-led initiatives are most important to them. 

Thank you to the alumni who shared their latest news and accomplishments with us. And thank you to all of the U-M School of Nursing alumni who have displayed tremendous courage and selflessness caring for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

When I dreamed about what I wanted to do in life, it never involved being a nurse. As a high school freshman, my mother — a retired nurse of 30 years — was in a car accident. She broke both her legs and was bedridden for an entire summer. It was my responsibility to take care of her, and I distinctly remember  saying, “I could never be a nurse.

“Nurses are in closest proximity to the problems patients face and are well positioned to deliver and implement solutions,” said Nancy P. Hanrahan, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, as she kicked off the Brouse Lecture at University of Michigan School of Nursing’s Research Day: Innovation at the interface of knowledge development and equitable care. Research Day is a celebrated annual event now in its ninth year.

More than 200 students, faculty and researchers came together for the University of Michigan School of Nursing's eighth annual Research Day.

She didn’t know it at the time, of course, but her own birth would inspire Eleanore (Maitland) Higginson’s career path and an incredible gift to the University of Michigan.

“I was a twin but my brother was stillborn, and my mother barely survived herself because of the terrible care she received,” says Ellie. “As I grew older, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of difference better care could have made. The outcome could have been entirely different.”