Dean Rita P. Kelleher Award
The Dean Rita P. Kelleher Award recognizes a graduate of the Connell School of Nursing who embodies the BC nurse: an accomplished nurse leader, an ethically aware scientist, and inquisitive clinician. Each year, the award is presented during reunion and the recipient shares her or his knowledge in a topical discussion.
The award’s namesake, Rita P. Kelleher, was the nursing school’s first faculty member in 1947. She served as dean from 1948 to 1968. She returned to full-time teaching and retired in 1973. Dean Kelleher died on November 2, 2009, at the age of 101, leaving a legacy that is still felt today.
2026 Recipient
Barbara E. Wolfe, Ph.D. ’95
Barbara E. Wolfe, Ph.D., APRN-CNS, PMHCNS-BC, FAAN, is the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Rhode island. An internationally recognized expert on psychiatric and mental health nursing and eating disorders, Wolfe previously served as dean of the URI College of Nursing from 2016 to spring 2023. Prior to joining URI, she served as professor and associate dean for research at the Connell School, and as a lecturer at Harvard Medical School.
Past Kelleher Award Recipients
Click on the links below to view details from past events.
2025
Nancy Gaden, M.S. ’87
Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer
Boston Medical Center
2024
Adelene Egan ’18
Emergency Department RN
NewYork-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Medical Center
2023
Marsha Maurer, M.S. ’90
Former Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
2022
Katherine O’Neill ’73
Past President
Massachusetts School Nurse Organization
2021
Terry Fulmer, M.S. ’77, Ph.D. ’83
President
The John A. Hartford Foundation
2020
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kelleher Award activities were canceled.
2019
Deborah Washington, M.S. ’93, Ph.D. ’12
Director of Diversity for Nursing and Patient Care Services
Massachusetts General Hospital
2018
John Welch, M.S. ’12
Senior Nurse Anesthetist, Boston Children's Hospital
Former Chief Clinical Officer for Ebola Response, Partners in Health
2017
Karen A. Daley ’04
Board of Trustees
American Nurses Foundation and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
2016
Darlene MacIsaac Hinojosa ’86
Colonel, Army Nurse Corps, US Army Reserve
Force Health Protection Integrator, Army Health Command
Family Nurse Practitioner
Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center
2015
Cecilia McVey ’72
Associate Director of Nursing and Patient Services
VA Boston Healthcare System
2014
Martha Jurchak, Ph.D. ’96
Executive Director, Ethics Service
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Ellen Robinson, M.S. ’83, Ph.D. ’97
Nurse Ethicist
Massachusetts General Hospital’s Institute for Patient Care
Co-chair
MGH Optimum Care Committee
2013
Mimi Pomerleau, M.S. ’95
President
Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses
2012
Mairead Hickey ’72
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
2011
Ann Riley Finck ’66
Nurse Practitioner and Preceptor, Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit
New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia Medical Center
2010
Genevieve V. Foley ’66
Pediatric Oncology Nurse
2009
Elizabeth (Betsy) Brown ’85
Director, Clinical Services
Partners Harvard Medical International