Why I Give

Hermi Nudo

Hermi Nudo, MS, BSN ’63, a retired clinical nurse specialist, continues to employ her expertise by doing consulting work and participating in medical missions to her home country of the Philippines. She is also involved with various other charities.

Nudo recently made a generous pledge to support the School of Nursing’s Living History Museum, where she serves as a docent.

“I liked my experience at the School very much and I like history, so the museum was a great place for me to give,” says Nudo, who also served as an associate professor at the School before retiring.

As an undergraduate at University of Maryland, College Park, Nudo was hesitant to go into nursing because she wanted a bachelor’s degree from a university instead of the traditional associate’s degree in nursing offered by hospital-based programs. A friend told her about the School’s bachelor’s degree program, one of only a few available at the time, and she switched her major immediately.

“I went on to have such a successful education and career at the School that it is important for me to do what I can to give back,” says Nudo. “The more funding we have for nursing, the more opportunities there are for people to have the same opportunities I did.” -PK

Sandra Schoenfisch

Sandra Schoenfisch, MS ’76, who retired last year from her position as director of the Office of Public Health Nursing in the Florida Department of Health, recognizes the importance of directly supporting the nursing profession.

“My family has had to deal with a variety of health problems and ailing parents. It became very clear to me that there is a continuous need for professional nurses. Nurses play a critical role in so many settings,” says Schoenfisch.

By making a generous multi-year pledge and bequest to the School of Nursing, both of which are unrestricted, Schoenfisch understands the importance of “greatest needs” gifts.

“I have confidence that the School will put the money where they need it most. My baccalaureate nursing school at American University closed in 1988. Given my concern for nursing education, my allegiance is with the University of Maryland School of Nursing,” she says.

Read more about Sandra on page 42 of the Spring/Summer 2011 edition of NURSING magazine.

Lura Jane Emery

During her academic career at the School of Nursing in the late 1970’s, CMDR Lura Jane Emery, MS ’79, recognized a need for nurses with advanced education. This eventually led her to create the Lura Jane Emery Nursing Seminars endowed fund.

In 1950, Emery was called to Pusan, Korea; she spent the next 19 months caring for those injured in the Korean War. “The most memorable moment was when our ships were traveling up the river near Incheon with armed Chinese troops lining the banks.” Fortunately, she says, “When they saw the red crosses on the side of our ships, they dropped their guns—not one shot was fired. That was indeed a miracle.”

When her military career ended, Emery wasn’t sure what her future would hold.

“After I retired from the Navy in 1974, I felt lost, but becoming involved in nursing again helped ease the transition,” she says. She returned to Maryland and received her master’s degree from the School of Nursing in 1979.

Each year, Emery’s fund supports a scholarly lecture presented during the School’s Evidence-Based Practice Conference. “When nurses have a good education,” she says, “they can easily advance in their field.” -JH

Read more about Lura Jane Emery on page 44 of the Spring/Summer 2010 edition of NURSING magazine.

Charlene M. Passmore

Boston native Charlene M. Passmore, BSN ’77, believes in the value of education.

Recently, she made a five-year campaign commitment to the University of Maryland School of Nursing, creating the Charlene M. Passmore endowed scholarship to benefit the School’s graduate students. “I believe in education, especially the one I received from the University of Maryland,” she says.

After earning her diploma in nursing in Boston in 1955, Passmore got married and quickly started a family—having seven children over the next nine years. Busy raising her family, she placed her career on hold for two decades, before returning to school to earn her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at the School of Nursing in 1977.

She began working in the Medical-Surgical unit at Baltimore Washington Medical Center (BWMC) in 1990. Then, in 1996, she earned her master’s degree in nursing from Bowie State University; the degree enabled her to become a case manager who serves as the liaison for complicated patient discharges at BWMC.

Passmore, who is Board Certified in Medical-Surgical Nursing and Case Management and is a member of the American Nurses Association and the Case Management Society of America, believes in supporting the schools that supported her and her family. In addition to the School of Nursing, she is a contributor to St. Vincent Pallotti High School, from which all of her children graduated.

By endowing a scholarship to benefit future graduate students at the School of Nursing, Passmore hopes to open doors to a new generation of nurse leaders. Looking back on her own experience, she says, “I thought it was a tough but fabulous program.” -Jennifer Hale

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