Catch up on everything you missed in 2022 with our Top 12 stories of the year. Enjoy!
1 | Yale Pledges $50 Million to YSN Over Five Years
Yale announced an unprecedented $50 million investment in YSN on in February. The magnitude of this endowment match over the next five years means the school can strengthen the impact of its mission — to answer the world’s call for better health. YSN will incorporate this tremendous commitment into planning for the school’s second century.
2 | YSN Launches First Online Education Program
YSN launched its first-ever online MSN: a three-year, part-time Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program for RN-prepared nurses. The program combines live online classes with YSN faculty, synchronous and asynchronous assignments, in-person clinical training, and on-campus immersions. Applications close February 28, 2023.
3 | Nursing Faculty Shares Insight During Nurses Week
YSN celebrated Nurses Week (May 6-12) by sharing insight and expertise from faculty across disciplines. Thank you to Nicole Langan Maciejak, Lecturer in Pediatrics; Dr. Jennifer McIntosh, GEPN and MSN Lecturer; Dr. Zhao Ni, Assistant Professor and Researcher; Dr. Christine Rodriguez, Director of the Simulation Lab; Dr. Angela Richard-Eaglin, Associate Dean for Equity, and Nathan Levitt, Director of LGBTQ and Gender Justice Learning.
4 | Roger Lee ’94 Makes $5 Million Gift Honoring Mother’s Nursing Legacy
Roger Lee ’94 made a $5 million gift to YSN to honor the legacy of his mother, hospice nursing pioneer Gayle Lee, RN, MHA. The extraordinary commitment is Lee’s first to YSN and the second-largest single contribution in the school’s nearly 100-year history.
“This gift is the intersection of two things that mean a lot to me: my mother and Yale,” Lee said.
5 | A Legacy of Selflessness: Yale College Alumni Endow Professorship
Wendy Underwood Naratil ’83 and Thomas C. Naratil ’83 established a named professorship in acute care, inspired in part to make the gift after their daughter embarked on a nursing career. The gift helps unlock additional endowed funds for YSN through the $50 million Yale Challenge. Dr. Nancy Banasiak, DNP, PNP, PPCNP-BC, APRN, is the inaugural chair.
6 | Nelson, Vlahov Publish COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Research
Dr. LaRon E. Nelson, PhD, RN, FNP, FNAP, FNYAM, FAAN and Dr. David Vlahov, PhD, RN, FAAN conducted research on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Black, Hispanic, and immigrant communities in the US. They also hosted “From the Supply Side to the Bedside: Advancing Integrated Strategies to Promote Racial Equity in COVID-19 Vaccination.”
7 | Yale Nursing’s Malerba ’15 DNP Will Make History as First Native American US Treasurer
Dr. Marilynn “Lynn” Malerba ’15 DNP has made history as the first Native American to serve as Treasurer of the United States, and when her signature appears on the nation’s currency, it will be the first inked by a Tribal leader and Native American woman. Malerba became the 18th Chief of the Mohegan Tribe in 2010, a lifetime position.
8 | Disaster Simulation Prepares Yale Nursing Students for Chaos
Faculty, staff, and community members contributed to the annual mass-casualty disaster simulation.
Wing Hung Yuen ’24 MSN described its impact: “You can’t teach these in a classroom and learning in the field is the best way to learn. I am pretty sure a lot of my friends will remember this sim and all the adrenaline they felt when it started and all the way through.”
9 | Uganda Experience Proves Transformative for Midwifery Students
The journey to the birth center in Atiak, Uganda, takes nearly 24 hours on a plane from New York to Dubai to Kampala and then it takes a seven-hour drive to reach the constellation of birthing huts. But it gives so much more.
As one student noted “This trip was an experience that will inform how I practice as a midwife for the rest of my career.”
10 | Distinguished Alumni Award and Decade Award Winners
Congratulations to the Distinguished Alumni Award winners: Shannon Fitzgerald ’80 MSN, Mary Geary ’74 MSN, and Beth Baldwin Tigges ’84 MSN. And a big round of applause to Decade Award winner Dr. Nicole Seagriff ’11 MSN. They have worked in urban hospitals, desert clinics, climbed literal and figurative mountains and even administered polio vaccines.
11 | From the Trading Floor to the ED: SOM Alum Returns to Yale with New Calling
After graduating from SOM in 1993, Brian Roach ’24 MSN spent 18 years in the banking industry. Feeling well-compensated but unsatisfied, he eventually spent a summer with the emergency services team at Grand Canyon National Park. Instead of returning to Arizona, Roach came back to Connecticut and is now a Family Nurse Practitioner student at YSN.
12 | The Classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022 Celebrated Commencement in Person
The Classes of 2020 and 2021 made a triumphant return to campus to celebrate an especially hard-won Commencement, this time with a cheering section of family and friends. The Class of 2022 extended the school’s tradition of winning the degree conferral ceremony on Old Campus, where they were met with thunderous applause and a cannonade of confetti.
Read the full article about Alumni Commencement here.
Read the full article about the Class of 2022 Commencement here.