Below are details of the scholarships available to Doctoral students.
The Melinda K. Brock Public Health Nursing Scholarship was established in 2010 by Eunice M. Brock in memory of her daughter, Melinda Kellner Brock. The endowed scholarship will assist undergraduate or graduate nursing students who demonstrate a passion for public health nursing, as Melinda did through care of and compassion for her patients.
Melinda began her career in the Mother Baby unit at WakeMed Hospitals and spent the last 15 years in Family Planning at the Durham County Health Department, where her true calling was care for the underserved. Her former coworker states “The patients on our unit had a wide range of income brackets, but Melinda’s desire was to be assigned to those less fortunate.” She advocated for them in many ways. If they needed additional social resources, she found them. If they would benefit from frequent follow up, she continued to check on them. Her devotion to mothers and their new babies was unparalleled. But she also practiced family-centered care, involving not just parents, but young siblings as well, guiding them to find their own way as a new family.”
Melinda’s personal characteristics and view of the world had much to do with her chosen profession. She was determined to help those who most needed it and to make the world a better place. This, not material wealth, was Melinda’s definition of success. Students who pursue their own calling as nurses now have a chance to find that same definition of success. With her gift, Eunice continues Melinda’s commitment to the future of public health nursing. By establishing the Melinda Kellner Brock Public Health Nursing Scholarship and ensuring that it continues to grow with a documented bequest, she, too, will make a difference for patients in need.
Melinda’s legacy of care for the underserved will live on through future Carolina nurses. Eunice Brock’s most sincere desire in establishing the scholarship is that the recipient be “committed to making the lives of those in need healthier and happier.”
Carol Ann Beerstecher Graduate Scholarship was created as part of a bequest left to the School of Nursing by Mrs. Yolande Beerstecher in 2009. The bequest was added to the already established scholarship created in 1979 by Dr. and Mrs. Robert Beerstecher, in memory of their daughter. Carol, BSN ’71, was a pediatric nurse who died of cancer on February 16, 1979, at the age of 29.
Carol had returned to Chapel Hill in 1972 to begin her graduate education. Despite her illness preventing her from completing her master’s degree, Carol lectured frequently on death and dying to nursing students, physicians, chaplains and other health care professionals during the last few years of her life.
Mrs. Yolande Beerstecher, Carol’s mother, asks, “It would be appreciated if at some time during the year each scholarship recipient were to place a bouquet of daisies on the memorial marker to Carol Ann Beerstecher Blackwell in the old campus cemetery as a tribute to her and her classmates, both living and dead, of the School of Nursing Class of 1971.”
Support for undergraduate and graduate students are made possible through the generosity and thoughtfulness of the Beerstecher family. Awards are made by the School of Nursing Office of Admissions and Student Services.
Elizabeth Scott Carrington Doctoral Scholarship is named in honor of Elizabeth Scott Carrington who led the public and private effort to establish a baccalaureate nursing degree program in North Carolina in 1950–an innovation for the time.
Elizabeth Scott Carrington Doctoral Scholarship s are awarded annually by the School of Nursing.
Glaxo Doctoral Fellowship Fund was established in 1991 to help the School of Nursing attract high caliber students who will work to improve the health status of the American people. The Glaxo Doctoral Fellowship was created with a $111,000 gift to the School of Nursing during the Bicentennial Campaign for Carolina. Recipients are selected annually by the School of Nursing.
Lunsford Richardson Scholarship was established in 1984 by Lunsford Richardson, who was a cousin of George Lunsford Carrington, M.D. Dr. Carrington was the husband of SON benefactor Elizabeth Scott Carrington. The Lunsford Richardson Scholarship is managed by the School of Nursing Foundation, Inc., and provides non-service scholarships for graduate students and doctoral candidates.
The Lunsford Richardson Scholarships are awarded annually at the discretion of the Dean of the School of Nursing.
Joanne Aldene Sandergaard Endowment Fund was established in 1991 from a bequest made by Joanne Aldene Sandergaard in her estate. Originally from Three Rivers, Michigan, Ms. Sandergaard graduated from Elizabeth City High School in Elizabeth City, NC, and then worked as a receptionist at UNC Hospitals for 10 years.
The Joanne Aldene Sandergaard Endowment Fund provides merit-based scholarships for doctoral nursing students.
Jane Winningham Smith Endowed Doctoral Scholarship in Cardiovascular Nursing was established in 2005 by Jane W. and James A. Smith to support a doctoral candidate in the pursuit of research and teaching in the field.
James A. and Jane W. Smith have a deep professional and personal interest in improving cardiovascular health for better patient outcomes. Jane W. Smith was a compassionate nurse who gave extraordinary care to her patients. She attended Watts School of Nursing in Durham, one of the most outstanding diploma programs in North Carolina. James A. Smith was a pioneer in helping to market the technologies to make a difference in the cardiovascular health of this nation. Together, their commitment to nursing and healthcare is demonstrated through the creation of this scholarship fund. The fund will begin supporting students in 2012.
Jane Winningham Smith Expendable Doctoral Scholarship Fund in Cardiovascular Nursing was established in 2005 by Jane W. and James A. Smith to provide immediate funding to support a doctoral student who will teach and conduct research in cardiovascular nursing. Annual awards will be made each year until the fund is expended in 2012.
R.H. Speight, Sr., M.D., and Mary P. Speight Fund in Nursing was established in 1992 as a bequest from Ms. Speight in honor of her father, R.H. Speight, Sr., M.D., to support graduate students. The trustees of Ms. Speight’s estate recognized her wishes and added her name to the gift.
Ms. Speight had a special affection for UNC and the health sciences. She was a practicing nurse, educated at the State Normal and Industrial School, 1894-1897, and served in the Army Nurse Corps from 1918 to 1919. Her father, who attended UNC, practiced medicine in Rocky Mount, NC, as did her three brothers. Several grandnieces and grandnephews received scholarship support from her estate to attend Carolina.
The trustees designated that the R.H. Speight, Sr., M.D., and Mary P. Speight Fund in Nursing be used to support graduate education in the School of Nursing.
The John and Lucy Wagoner Graduate Nursing Scholarship Fund will be awarded to graduate nursing students of merit, with special emphasis on the aging population and patient, women’s health issues, and living with cancer. Preference will also be given to a recipient who is a North Carolinian or who plans to practice in a North Carolina community.
Dr. P. Kay Wagoner, BSN ’70, MSN ’78 and her husband Dr. Kenneth N. May, Jr. have established The John and Lucy Wagoner Graduate Nursing Scholarship Fund to honor Dr. Wagoner’s parents, who sent three daughters through the School of Nursing. Both John and Lucy are North Carolina natives who grew up in farming families and reside in Alamance County. Recognizing the value of education and the quality of instruction at UNC-Chapel Hill, they provided the financial support and encouragement necessary for their three daughters, P. Kay Wagoner, Margaret Wagoner Gilliam and Jackie Wagoner Disher, to graduate from the SON. All three have also gone on to advance their education in differing areas of practice. Mirroring the support given by her parents, Dr. Wagoner, along with her family, will provide the means to help future nursing students achieve their goals.