Award Recipients

2023 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients

Kenrick Cato, PhD '14 | Award for Nursing Research

Kenrick Cato, nurse researcher and decorated army veteran, has made significant contributions in nursing informatics and data science to improve the healthcare delivery system. Cato earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Anthropology from Swarthmore College in 1994, and served nine years in the United States Military, earning a bronze star. At Columbia Nursing, he earned a Bachelor of Science, Master of Philosophy, and a Doctoral of Philosophy in 2008, 2012, and 2014, respectively. Currently, Cato is a professor of nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and a Nurse Data Scientist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  

Cato’s program of research is nursing informatics and data science in the application domains of nursing and emergency medicine. His specialized expertise relates to electronic health record (EHR) data mining (machine learning, and natural language processing) and predictive modeling for clinical decision support for clinicians, patients, and caregivers. Additionally, his expertise also includes the ethical considerations of applying data mining and predictive modeling.   

Cato co-developed the instrument, CONCERN (Communicating Narrative Concerns Entered by RNs) with Dr. Sarah Rossetti.  They successfully competed for a $1.5 million grant from the American Nurses Foundation to develop the CONCERN Implementation Toolkit so that other institutions can replicate the processes and tools in other institutions. The CONCERN project is a highly innovative in its combination of nursing expertise, computational methods (i.e., machine learning, natural language processing, predictive modeling), and clinical decision support. Cato is currently serving as site primary investigator (PI) or co-investigator for six federal grants.  

Cato also co-lead the Optimizing with Applied Clinical Informatics Models and Methods (OPTACIMM) lab. The mission of the lab is to use informatics to advance healthcare delivery and outcomes for individuals and communities.  The OPTACIMM lab includes graduate students, doctoral trainees, and clinical informatics fellows from both the School of Nursing and the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University.   

Cato serves as Associate Editor for two journals, Applied Clinical Informatics, and Journal of Emergency Nursing. He also holds several leadership positions for the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA).  

For his sustained and significant contributions in nursing informatics and data science, disseminating research through publications and presentations at national and international conferences, and mentoring graduate students, we honor Cato with the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award for Nursing Research.     

Mary Moran, MS '08 | Neighbors Humanitarian Award

Mary Moran, family nurse practitioner and nurse educator, has made significant and sustained contributions developing health prevention and promotion initiatives for underserved individuals, families, and communities.  She earned a diploma in nursing from South Manchester School of Nursing, Manchester, England in 1968, a Bachelor of Arts in art history from Manhattan College in 1987, a Master of Public Health from Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health in 1991, and a Master of Science in nursing from Columbia Nursing in 2008.  Moran currently serves as a clinical nursing instructor for students enrolled in the Columbia’s Master’s Direct Entry (MDE) nursing program. 

Moran has been instrumental in providing health care for vulnerable populations, serving as a powerful role model while educating Columbia nursing students’ during local and global health clinical practica. In the Washington Heights and Harlem communities of New York City, Moran and Columbia University nursing students have led annual health screenings, provided health education at street fairs, and in churches, and taught first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in neighborhood high schools. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, Moran prepared and mentored Columbia Nursing students to volunteer in the hospitals.   

Globally, Moran’s humanitarian efforts began in 1985 at the Wod Kowli Refugee Camp on the border of Sudan and Ethiopia during the Ethiopian famine. She was responsible for creating a plan to house, feed, and care for over 700 hungry and frightened individuals who were entering the refugee camp at the same time.  Moran repeated this work in Somalia in 1992, Rwanda in 1994, and has prepared more than 1,000 Columbia nurses to provide care for marginalized populations. She has taught refugee health workers, nurses, and students how to implement immunization programs, an initiative that has reduced the morbidity and mortality of common vaccine-preventable diseases. Additionally, she assisted in the development of a clinical integration experience at two sites in Ethiopia and developed a menstrual pad program from leftover fabric, allowing girls to remain in school and continue learning.  This program was also expanded to a rural site in Ghana.   

In the last five years, she developed a global skills training program, preparing Columbia Nursing students for their 6-week global integration practicum experience. Moran has been a visionary for Columbia Nursing’s global health program and a robust exemplar for servant leadership in the local and global community.  

In recognition her ability to provide high quality health care to individuals and families in underserved communities, promote the public recognition of nursing as a human service profession, and serve others without personal gain, recognition, or compensation, we honor  Moran with the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award entitled Neighbors Humanitarian Award.  

Arlene Smaldone, PhD '03 | Award for Distinguished Career in Nursing

Arlene Smaldone, nurse scientist, pediatric nurse practitioner and educator, has made significant and sustained contributions to advance the profession of nursing. She received a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Hunter College in 1970, a Masters of Nursing from New York University in 1975, and a Doctor of Philosophy from Columbia Nursing in 2003. As a trail blazer in nursing education, she served as the Director of the DNP program  Columbia Nursing.  This doctoral program serves as a model across the country and around the world.  Currently, Smaldone holds faculty appointments as a Professor of Nursing and Behavioral Dental Sciences at Columbia University, the only faculty member jointly appointed in the College of Dental Medicine.  

Smaldone’s program of research has been dedicated to improving the health and well-being of individuals with chronic conditions, including diabetes mellitus, cancer, and sickle cell disease. She has been a valued interdisciplinary collaborator in biomedical informatics, pediatrics, and dentistry. As a diabetic mellitus expert, she has served on multiple projects with a professor of biomedical informatics that test theory-based technology-enabled self-management interventions for underserved populations with diabetes mellitus. This collaboration resulted in multiple publications in top-ranked informatics journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association and the Journal of Biomedical Informatics.  Additionally, her collaboration with a pediatrician on behavioral interventions for patients with sickle cell disease also resulted in multiple papers in highly respected pediatric journals. Furthermore, her collaboration with a professor of dental medicine and health policy on interprofessional education for dental faculty also resulted in multiple publications.    

Smaldone served as primary investigator (PI) of the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare for two years, and the Robert Wood Johnson Future of Nursing Scholars award for five years. She has also served a primary investigator (PI), co-principal investigator or co-investigator on nearly a dozen National Institute of Health (NIH) awards. Smaldone co-authored a chapter entitled “Health services research: Translating research into Policy” in multiple editions of Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care.  

For her visionary leadership in nursing research, practice, and education, developing the next generation of nurse scientist, promoting interprofessional practice and advancing health policy, we honor Smaldone with the 2023 Distinguished Nursing Alumni Award for Distinguished Career in Nursing. 

Olivia Velez, PhD '11 | Award for Nursing Administration

Olivia Vélez, informatics expert and nurse administrator, has made significant contributions using nursing informatics to lead global health improvements, and influence global health research and policy. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science/Neuroscience and Behavior from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts in 1998, a Bachelor of Science from Columbia Nursing in 2006, a Master of Science in Management Information Systems from Eastern New England College in Massachusetts in 2001, a Master of Public Health from Mailman School of Public Health in 2008, and a Doctor of Philosophy from Columbia  Nursing in 2011. Vélez was also a National Library of Medicine postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University, Department of Biomedical Informatics. 

Currently, she serves as the Chief Digital Health Officer and member of the executive team for IntraHealth International, a global nonprofit organization that has served more than 100 countries since 1979 and has developed resources used in 25 countries using open-source technology. Vélez collaborates with country governments, donors, and implementing partners to foster supportive digital ecosystems for strengthening the health workforce.  

Previously in her role as Vice President for Patient Engagement and Community Health Innovations, she improved healthcare access for individuals with prediabetes, resulting in a 70 percent increase in referrals for lifestyle change programs. She also has experience on large-scale malaria, HIV, and maternal and child health projects funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).    

Vélez leads the “Women’s Leadership in Global Digital Health Workshop” which fosters gender equity for women in leadership roles using digital health technologies. She was also a key contributor to the “African Women in Digital Health” initiative, launched at the 2022 Conference on Public Health in Africa. Furthermore, she serves as Co-Chair, Global Digital Health Network and Chairs the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) task force.   

In recognition of her leadership in developing and implementing innovative technology-based solutions that positively influence healthcare, supporting the healthcare workforce to provide high-quality efficient health care to underserved populations, and disseminating those innovations through national and international conferences and publications, we honor Velez with the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award for Nursing Administration.   

Past Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients

2020 - 2022

2022

Awarded jointly by CUSONAA and CUPHSONAA

  • Felesia Bowen, PhD '10 | Award for Distinguished Career in Nursing
  • Pamela de Cordova, PhD '11 | Award for Nursing Research
  • Karen Desjardins, DNP '05 | Award for Nursing Education
  • Po-Yin Yen, PhD '10 | Award for Nursing Research

2021

Awarded jointly by CUSONAA and CUPHSONAA

  • Elizabeth Cohn, PhD '09 | Award for Nursing Research
  • Anna Woloski-Wruble, BS '82 | Award for Nursing Education

2020

Awarded jointly by CUSONAA and CUPHSONAA

  • Patricia Jean Moreland, PhD '10 | Award for Nursing Education

2010 - 2019

2019

Awarded jointly by CUSONAA and CUPHSONAA

  • Elizabeth Cooper, MS '71 | Award for Nursing Administration
  • Nessa Coyle, MS '81 | Award for Distinguished Career in Nursing
  • Linda Kivowitz Glazner, BS '64 | Award for Neighbors Humanitarian 
  • Elaine Larson | Honarary Distinguished Alumni Award
  • Judith Mercer, MS '74 | Award for Nursing Research
  • Sarah Collins Rossetti, PhD '09 | Award for Nursing Research
  • Tener Goodwin Veenema, BS '80 | Award for Nursing Education 

2018 

Awarded jointly by CUSONAA and CUPHSONAA

  • Jeannemarie Gelin Baker, MS ’90 | Neighbors Humanitarian Award
  • Susan Green Cooksey, BS ’68 | Award for Distinguished Career in Nursing 
  • Ann-Margaret Dunn Navarra, PhD ’11 | Award for Nursing Research
  • Anne Penland, class of 1912 (1885-1976), BS '12 | In Memoriam for Lifetime Achievement Award
  • William Daniel Roberts, PhD ’05 | Award for Nursing Administration
  • Margaret Walsh, MS ’94 | Award for Nursing Practice

2017 

Awarded jointly by CUSONAA and CUPHSONAA

  • Jesus Casida, MS '96 | Award for Nursing Education
  • Lora Peppard, DNP '08 | Nursing Education
  • Rebecca Schnall, PhD '09 | Award for Nursing Research

2016 

Awarded jointly by CUSONAA and CUPHSONAA

  • Amy Ansehl, MS ’96 | Award for Nursing Administration
  • Susan Krienke Chase, BS ’72 | Award for Nursing Education
  • Wei-Ti Chen, PhD ’02 | Award for Nursing Research 
  • Jill Kilanowski, MS ’82 | Award for Nursing Research
  • Viola Gommer, BS ’60 | Award for Neighbors Humanitarian
  • Wilhelmina Manzano | Honarary Distinguished Alumni Award

2015 

Awarded jointly by CUSONAA and CUPHSONAA

  • Joyce Anastasi, DNP '05 | Award for Nursing Research
  • Christopher Comfort | Honarary Distinguished Alumni Award
  • Chana Engel, MS '09 | Award for Nursing Practice
  • Judy Honig, DNP '05 | Award for Nursing Education
  • Janna Lesser, BS '81 | Award for Nursing Education
  • Annie Rohan, PhD '13 | Award for Nursing Practice

2014 

Awarded jointly by CUSONAA and CUPHSONAA

  • Kathleen Barnes, MS '89 | Award for Distinguished Career in Nursing
  • Margaret Mabrey Craig, BS '64 | Award for Distinguished Career in Nursing
  • Rachel Lyons, DNP '07 | Award for Nursing Education
  • Susan Levy Mascitelli, BS '74 | Award for Nursing Administration
  • Charlotte Munck, Class of 1909, BS '09 | Alumni Award in Memoriam for Lifetime Achievement
  • Beth Oliver, MS '91 | Alumni Award in Memoriam for Lifetime Achievement

2013 

Awarded jointly by CUSONAA and CUPHSONAA 

  • Sarah Sheets Cook, DNP '05
  • Patricia L. Riley, BS '76
  • June Siegfreid, BS '39

2012 

Awarded jointly by CUSONAA and CUPHSONAA

  • Janice Jones Izlar, MS '06
  • Margaret Ada Mutch, BS '36

2011 

Awarded by CUSONAA

  • Vanessa Battista, MS '08
  • Kirsten Malone, MS '09
  • Kate Rossettie, MS '08

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Alice Bonner, BS '81
  • Faith Hawley Howarth, BS '61
  • Betty Chin Jung, BS '71
  • Christina Alvarado Shanahan, BS '81
  • Holly Howard Stover, BS '61

2010 

Awarded by CUSONAA

  • My Hanh Nguyen, MS '07
  • Rosalie Perez, MS '07

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Barbara Decker, BS '60
  • Virginia Shultz Humphrey, BS '60

2000 - 2009

2009 

Awarded by CUSONAA

  • Jeannie Cimiotti, PhD '04

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Carol Heeks Brice, BS '59
  • Sally Eckert Arbolino, BS '64

2008 

Awarded by CUSONAA

  • Dawn Bucher, DNP '07
  • Velta Willis, MS '04

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Brooke Serpe Ingold, BS '68
  • Marguerite Wales, BS '20

2007 

Awarded by CUSONAA

  • Bernadette Capili, PhD '02

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Louise Greene Bobrow, BS '69
  • Deborah Camp Wheeling, BS '75

2006 

Awarded by CUSONAA

  • Amanda Segilia, MS '04
  • Glenn Wurtzel, MS '02

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Elizabeth Jones Davis, BS '61
  • Jean Gleichenhaus Kressy, BS '60
  • Margo Payne Leithead, BS '74
  • Tania Shiminski Maher, BS '81

2005 

Awarded by CUSONAA

  • Patricia Dykes, PhD '04
  • William Enlow, DNP '10

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Elizabeth Kerr Hay, BS '67
  • Anne Hahn Powell, BS '65

2004

Awarded by CUSONAA

  • Lawrence Landphair, MS '03
  • Roland Larkin, PhD '08

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Mary Masterson Germain, BS '64
  • Dorcas Younger Koenigsberger, BS '59
  • Margaret Krantz Stull, BS '60

2003

Awarded by CUSONAA

  • Mary Lou Ryder-Larkin, MS '98
  • Catherine Tanksley, MS '98

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • V. Eunice Hamilton Ellison, BS '51
  • Deena Penchansky Lisak, BS '64
  • Mary Katherine Brough Maroney, BS '61
  • Carol Single Stilley, BS '63
  • Kenneth Zwolski, BS '78

2002 

Awarded by CUSONAA

  • Maribeth Leigh Massie, MS '98

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Virginia Henderson
  • Marilyn Ceperano Liota, BS '51
  • Karol Murov, BS '67
  • Carol Roye, MS '86

2001 

Awarded by CUSONAA

  • Roxana Sasse, DNP '11

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Christina Browne, BS '65
  • RoAnne Muldoon Dahlen, BS '61
  • Jane McConville, BS '51
  • Eileen McLoughlin Stiles, BS '58
  • Shirley Simon Vollmer, BS '53

2000 

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Cathy Bagnal Shimmel, BS '71
  • Nancy Vendura, MS '97

1990 - 1999

1999

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Ria Grace Hawks, MS '92
  • Virginia Hicks Barrett, BS '64
  • Rosanna Forman Hess, BS '74
  • Sally Ruffner Leiter, BS '66
  • Mary Ellen Munsche Stanton, BS '69

1998

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Cheryl Avellanet, BS '71
  • Vanessa Noble Gang, BS'64

1997

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Anne Brennecke, MS '95
  • Deborah Koniak-Griffin, BS '70
  • Lillian Turner, BS '45
  • Helen Young, BS '12

1996

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • E. Joyce Gould, BS '68
  • Christine Tassone Kovner, BS '69
  • Eleanor Lee, BS '20*

1995

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Carole Birdsall, MS '87
  • Phebe Miner Goldman, BS '70
  • Mary Catherine Houston, BS '32
  • Frances Donovan Monahan, BS '66
  • Rose Ann Naughton, BS '59

1994

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Ramon L. Lavandero, BS '72
  • Shawn M. McCabe, MS '88
  • Mary M. Petriccione, BS '79
  • Florence Vanderbilt, BS '27

1993

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Lea Ormezzano Battiato, BS '54
  • Evvy Hay Campbell, BS '70
  • Carole Smyth, MS '85
  • Delight Mocas Tillotson, BS '52

1992

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Elizabeth Wallace Brackett, BS '34
  • Marie C. Bryon, BS '17
  • Sylvia Carlson , BS '47
  • Harriet Mantel Deleuran, BS '33
  • Phyllis DiFilippo
  • Evelyn Elwood, BS '39
  • Martha Haber Delano, BS '49
  • Bettie Springer Jackson, BS '67
  • Marianne Taft Marcus, BS '55
  • JoAnne C. Messore Shotwell, BS '72
  • Mathy Doval Mezey, BS '60
  • Mary O'Neil Mundinger
  • Elizabeth Lloyd Graham, BS '52
  • Marjorie Peto, BS '26
  • Robin Roy
  • Mara Leslie San Antonio Gaddy, BS '83
  • Helen L. Scott, BS '27
  • Edith Schwartz Shapiro, BS '56
  • Elma Clark Smith, BS '36
  • Mary E. Windrow, BS '40

1991

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Cynthia Kilburn Kelly, BS '42
  • Margaret McEvoy, BS '60
  • Marion Richardson Thompson, BS '60

1990

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Ellen Davidson Baer, BS '62
  • Eleanor Hall, BS '36
  • Elizabeth Hahn Winslow, BS '65

1980 - 1989

1989

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Penelope Buschman Gemma, BS '65
  • Keville Frederickson Tomasson, BS '64

1988

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Jacqueline Dee Pitts Bailey, BS '85
  • Laurie Verdisco, BS '58
  • Mila Ann Swyers Aroskar, BS '61

1987

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Mary E. Conway, BS '46
  • J.M. Ada Mutch, BS '36
  • A. Faye Wattleton, BS '67

1986

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Janet A. Alley, BS '52
  • Patricia G. Archbold, BS '66
  • Elizabeth Zawalick Hughes, BS '60

1985

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

1985: Suzanne Law Hawes, BS '59

1984

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Marion D. Cleveland, BS '27
  • Lois Mueller Glazier, BS '60

1983

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Dorothy E. Reilly, BS '42

1982

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Cecile Covell, BS '26
  • Elizabeth S. Gill, BS '37

1981

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Grace Davidson, BS '42

1980

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

Mary Wasson Britten, BS '59
Helen F. Pettit, BS '36

1977 - 1979

1979

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Dorothy M. Rogers, BS '25

1978

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Margaret Wells, BS '29
  • June Travers Werner, BS '45

1977

Awarded by CUPHSONAA

  • Margaret E. Conrad, BS '20

2023 Early Career Alumni Award Recipient

Kyungmi Woo, PhD '18 | Emerging Nurse Leader Award

Joanne Woo, nurse educator and researcher, earned a Bachelor of Science in nursing from the Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea, in 2000, a Master of Arts in Health Education from Columbia University, Teachers College in 2007, and a Doctor of Philosophy in nursing from Columbia  Nursing in 2018. After completing a post-doctoral fellowship at Columbia University in 2020, she returned to South Korea and currently serves as an Assistant Professor at Seoul National University. As a certified case manager, Woo has expertise in home health care and patient education.   

Woo’s research program uses advanced nursing informatics to improve home health care. She has designed and conducted innovative research using nurses’ notes to inform personalized interventions through early detection of symptoms and identification of patient characteristics. Using her expertise in natural language processing techniques to extract meaningful information from clinical notes, she has extended her research to different health care settings.  

Her research has been lauded with numerous awards both at Columbia Nursing and in South Korea. As a published author, she has contributed to numerous publications regarding evidence based health care decision-making.  As a faculty member at Seoul National University, she teaches, advises, and mentors students enrolled in the bachelor’s program through the doctoral degree program. Woo also serves as the Chair of the Nursing Division of the Korean Telemedicine Society, Associate Editor of Asian Nursing Research, and is a board member for the Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education and the Korean Academy of Community Nursing.   

In recognition of her ability to utilize evidence based research to guide clinical decision-making, implement significant innovations in nursing practice, serve as a mentor to facilitate the growth and develop of nurses, we honor Woo with the 2023 Early Career Alumni Award: Emerging Nurse Leader. 

Past Early Career Alumni Award Recipients

2020 - 2022

2022

Awarded jointly by CUSONAA and CUPHSONAA

  • Meghan Reading Turchioe, PhD '18 | Emerging Nurse Leader Award

2021

Awarded jointly by CUSONAA and CUPHSONAA

  • Ava Dawson, MS '12 | Emerging Nurse Leader Award
  • Hannah Lee, MS '14 | Emerging Nurse Leader Award

2020

Awarded jointly by CUSONAA and CUPHSONAA

  • Allison Norful, PhD '17 | Emerging Nurse Leader Award
  • Jasmine Travers, PhD '16 | Emerging Nurse Leader Award

2019

2019

Awarded jointly by CUSONAA and CUPHSONAA

  • Donald R. Boyd, Jr., PhD '17 | Emerging Nurse Leader Award