Three Awarded NEF Scholarships

Columbia Nursing students Hannah Maebelle Apostol, Kortney Johnson, and Claire Pettengill have received scholarships from Nurses Educational Funds (NEF), Inc., for 2026-2027.      

Founded in 1912, NEF promotes leadership and health equality through annual scholarships to nurses seeking master’s and doctoral degrees in nursing education, advanced clinical practice, research, health policy, and administration. To date, NEF has awarded more than 1,500 scholarships for advanced nursing degrees.  

Hannah Maebelle Apostol, a student in the Family Nurse Practitioner Program subspecializing in women's health, received the Rita Reis Wieczorek Scholarship for Maternal-Infant and Pediatric Nursing. She works at a federally qualified health center in New York City, providing care in adult medicine, urgent care, and geriatric settings. She also serves as a school nurse, supporting the health and well-being of children and adolescents with diverse medical needs.   

Kortney Johnson, a student in the Nurse Anesthesia Program, received the Columbia University – Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing Alumni Association Inc. / J. Margaret Ada Mutch Scholarship. Her doctoral project focuses on expanding focused cardiac ultrasound education for anesthesia providers to improve intraoperative cardiac assessments.     

Claire Pettengill, a student in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program, received the Madeline A. Naegle Scholarship for Mental Health Nursing. She holds placements in reproductive psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine and in the Women's Mental Health program at Columbia ObGyn, and serves as a registered nurse in the inpatient geriatric psychiatry unit at Gracie Square Hospital.