NewsRelease

Alumni Association Presents Distinguished Service Awards

GREENSBORO—Two women with records of service in the fields of nursing and education and to The University of North Carolina at Greensboro received the 2002 Alumni Distinguished Service Awards during alumni reunion activities.

The presentations were made during commencement weekend at the UNCG Alumni Association’s 109th annual meeting on May 18 with approximately 600 alumni attending. The awards recognize alumni who have contributed to the "liberal arts ideal" through service. This year’s recipients are:
 

• Nancy "Beam" Funderburk Wells of Greensboro, Class of 1949. An alumna who lived on the campus of Woman's College as a child, Wells' nomination cites her devotion and service to the institution. She has served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors, the Alumni Scholars program, the Alumni House Campaign and the UNCG Legislative Network. Her career as a teacher inspired one of her nominators to describe her as a "capable, compassionate, caring teacher who stretched the students' intellect with high standards and expectations." Her teaching included a stint from 1968-71 in the Marshall Islands on the island of Kwajalein. Wells handled the job well enough to be elected as her school's school board representative. Much of her teaching was done in Alamance County and New Jersey. In addition to her UNCG degree, she also received master's degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill and Fairleigh-Dickinson University.

 
• Rita Hundley Pickler of Richmond, Va., Class of 1979.  Pickler's professional interest is in maternal and child health, with special focus in pre-term infants. Her research has focused on bottle-feeding, stress mastery for mothers and developmental care of pre-term infants. She has published extensively and done national presentations on her research. Among the honors she has received was the 1998 School of Nursing Distinguished Alumni Award. In addition to her research and teaching, Pickler finds time to work with underserved populations in the Richmond, Va., area. She also has been working with Haiti Outreach Ministries since 1995 to establish a clinic in Cite Soleil, a city of 400,000 with no permanent health care facility. Currently an associate professor of nursing at Virginia Commonwealth University, Pickler also received an MSN degree from UNCG and earned the Ph.D. in nursing from the University of Virginia.    ###