Monica Taylor, vice president for development and alumni relations, told those gathered to honor the five alumni that the caliber of their accomplishments serves as a testament to the value of a University of Delaware degree.
“Today's inductees have made exceptional contributions in their life's work and have added to the quality of life of our society,” she said. "The worldwide recognition these individuals have gained brings pride to the University of Delaware and inspires fellow alumni and current students alike. Our honorees have added significantly to the value of a University of Delaware degree."
Alan Brayman, BE '73, vice president of the University of Delaware Alumni Association, moderated the ceremony, introducing inductees Alex T. Bourdon, EG '81; Arthur L. Goldstein, EG '59M; Elizabeth McCloy Morris, CHS '73; Carol A. Post, AS/M '91; and Lisa C. Rowen, AS '82, CHS '82, as honored members of the alumni association from around the nation and the world who have distinguished themselves professionally and in the community.
The ceremony included remarks by Carol Cipriani, CHEP '08, of Philadelphia, an elementary teacher education major with a concentration in special education, who received the 2008 Emalea Pusey Warner Award for the outstanding senior woman, and Zachary Schafer, AS '08, of Unionville, Pa., a triple major in economics, history and international relations, the 2008 recipient of the Alexander J. Taylor Award for Outstanding Seniors.
Brayman and UD President Patrick Harker presented the certificates of induction, bringing the number of names on the wall to 215.
There are more than 140,000 UD graduates including Revolutionary War heroes, signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, as well as physicians, engineers and authors. Recent graduates include men and women from business, law, education, creative and performing arts, athletics, religion, politics, medicine and the military.
In accepting his certificate, Bourdon thanked his family and friends and said, “I want to tell you how honored I am to have my name listed alongside of people such as U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, U.S. Rep. Tom Carper,...Delaware Attorney General Jane Brady, football legend Tubby Raymond and a number of...captains of industry.”
Bourdon said he used his UD training in engineering to carve out a successful career in manufacturing management in nuclear defense materials, polymers, fibers, films, instruments and medical diagnostic reagents.
While working for Dade Behring Inc., a global provider of medical diagnostic products, Bourdon helped launch Dimension Vista, a 2006 product line that integrated technologies for the high-volume clinical laboratory. After joining PMI, he moved the early-stage medical company to a publicly traded one in October 2007.
During his years at Dade Behring and PMI, Bourdon collaborated with UD programs in mechanical engineering and medical technology. Both programs received equipment and services, which saved UD significant amounts of money. He also fostered student internships, scholarships and employment opportunities for University graduates. He helped initiate an Honors Day award for a senior majoring in medical technology, and two additional scholarships were funded in his name by Dade Behring after he left the company.
Goldstein, who retired after 32 years as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Ionics Inc., oversaw the company's growth from a small research and development company into an internationally recognized leader in water purification, desalination and separation technology. In 2005, General Electric purchased Ionics for approximately $1.3 billion.
Goldstein said his thirst for discovery and invention began when he was a student at UD. “The spirit with which I was imbued at UD led to my staying involved in research which has stayed with me throughout my life....The kinds of things I learned in terms of new ideas really started here. I will be forever grateful for the education I had at the University of Delaware.”
The holder of 18 patents related to the purification and processing of liquids, Goldstein continues to play an active role in health care, education and business as a trustee, treasurer and chairman of the Finance Committee of Partners HealthCare System, a trustee at the California Institute of Technology, a trustee of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization and a director of Cabot Corporation and A123 Systems.
Post has been a groundbreaking champion of legal reform on behalf of victims of domestic violence. When she began her thesis work, Delaware was the only state that lacked a coalition to combat domestic violence. Post has since used her academic training and research to change how Delaware's courts treat incidents of domestic violence and to create statewide networks of support for its victims.
She told friends and family that it was at UD that she found her “public voice as a domestic violence advocate.” “I feel that his award brings me full circle....I remember the power of realizing that I had learned enough at UD to really start to teach people about this issue. All of my work since then has built upon my experience at UD,” Post said.
The Project for Domestic Violence Reform, a community service organization, was a direct outgrowth of Post's master's degree thesis, in which she analyzed the outcomes of domestic violence cases in Delaware's Family Court system. Her findings inspired the creation of a court program to assist victims of battering by providing advocacy services.
Post is a founder and executive director of the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence (DCADV). As a statewide, nonprofit organization, the coalition works with the criminal justice, health care, education and social service communities to create effective policies and programs for battered women and their children. Post also serves on the Board of the National Network to End Domestic Violence and has qualified as an expert witness in Delaware's Superior Court.
The ceremony, which took place on the last day of National Nurses Week--May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale--also featured the induction of two UD nursing graduates.
“The success I have enjoyed serving in the greatest navy in the world is a result of the wonderful education I received here at the UD," said Morris, one of the two nursing alumni honored. "My nursing instructors instilled in me a passion to be attentive to the needs of others, the courage to take risks and a commitment to excellence. Those three things have served me very well throughout my military and nursing careers. It is a great end to Nurses Week to have this honor,” she said.
Morris is a pediatric nurse practitioner in civilian practice who completed a 33-year career as a Navy Nurse Corps officer, retiring with the rank of rear admiral.
During Operation Desert Shield/Storm, she coordinated the identification of reserve medical personnel for mobilization in support of the first Gulf War. Morris was responsible for implementing Navy Medicine's Integrated Medical Support Plan at the National Naval Medical Center. Promoted to rear admiral (lower half) in 2001, Morris served as deputy director of the Navy Nurse Corps, reserve component, and on the secretary of the Navy's National Naval Reserve Policy Board.
She was promoted to rear admiral (upper half) in 2004 and became the first Nurse Corps Reserve Admiral to serve as senior flag officer adviser to the Navy Surgeon General and 7,200 reserve medical personnel. She received the Legion of Merit for being instrumental in mobilizing 3,145 reserve medical personnel to care for casualties of the global war on terrorism.
Rowen, who has been described as an “expert clinician scholar,” has advanced her scholarship over the last two decades while holding various leadership positions in the nursing profession. She thanked the University and said she is humbled by the honor. “It's the University of Delaware that made me who I am, along with my family.”
Rowen is recognized nationally as an innovator and leader in clinical nursing, nursing education and research, patient safety and nursing management
For six years, she served as a clinical nurse in the department of surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, providing nursing care to surgical in-patients while also attending graduate school full time at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. From 1991-98, she was vice president for patient care services at Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore, a 285-bed acute-care community teaching institution. She returned to Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1998, where she served as director of nursing surgical services until 2007.
While there, Rowen also created the concept of a “nurse partner,” which links a bedside nurse to a non-nurse partner by cell phone. After implementation of the nurse partner role on a surgical unit, the nurses' time at the bedside doubled and patient satisfaction scores rose by 10 points.
In 2007, Rowen became chief nursing officer and senior vice president of patient care services at the University of Maryland Medical Center. There she is responsible for leadership and management of all nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, clinical nutrition, social work and rehabilitative services.
She is the author of more than 40 papers and is editor-in-chief of Bariatric Nursing and Surgical Patient Care. She serves as adjunct faculty for graduate nursing programs at Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland and George Mason University.
For more Wall of Fame information, call (302) 831-2341 or visit [www.udconnection.com/wall-of-fame].
Article by Barbara Garrison
Photo by Kathy Atkinson