The College of Nursing presented the 2019 Alumni Awards at the Night’nTales alumni Homecoming event on November 1. Sara M. Hogg, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, received the Outstanding Young Nurse Alumna award; Dr. Shannon Bright Smith, DNP, APRN, ACNS-BC, CNE, and Dr. Debra C. Wallace, PhD, RN, FAAN, received the Outstanding Nurse Alumna award.
Sara M. Hogg, '12, '15, is a nurse practitioner at Lexington Family Practice. She is a preceptor to UofSC nurse practitioner students and teaches RN-BSN classes in an online setting with the goal of increasing the number of BSN-prepared nurses. Ms. Hogg is a dedicated volunteer for Pearls, a Columbia-area organization aiming to help women trapped in the sex industry, where she is involved in outreach and mentoring of these women. In addition to her local volunteer work, Ms. Hogg has served on mission trips to Peru, Africa, Alaska and New Orleans where she has provided primary care to patients in need. She is passionate about mental health, treating patients with mental illness and finding joy in seeing improvement in her patients’ mental health. Ms. Hogg also works often with adolescent and young adult women and finds importance in encouraging them to have self-worth and make wise, healthy choices.
Dr. Shannon Bright Smith, '10, is an associate professor and director of the nursing program at Claflin University, where she began the RN to BSN program and led a team to build a Master of Science in Nursing program. Dr. Smith is a servant leader, supporting students through mentorship and internship opportunities, and advocating for nursing faculty. She is president of the International Women’s Council, an organization that promotes women empowerment, spiritual growth and social justice. She is a 2017 fellow of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s Leadership in Academic Nursing Program, a certified nurse educator and a certified clinical nurse specialist.
Dr. Debra C. Wallace, '90, is the Daphine Doster Mastroianni Distinguished Professor and Director of the UNC-Greensboro Center for the Health of Vulnerable Populations. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and has received NIH, HRSA, university and foundation funding for her research efforts in minority, health disparities and community-based health. Dr. Wallace has served as President of the Southern Nursing Research Society, chair of the Nursing Research Initiative study section of the US Department of Veterans Affairs, and as a grant reviewer at the National Institutes of Health. Throughout her career, Dr. Wallace has advanced nursing science through research, practice, and policy to facilitate optimal health for all people.
Nursing students Katie Milo, Asia Greenhill and Kelsey Barnes introduced Ms. Hogg, Dr. Smith and Dr. Wallace. Awards were presented by Dean Jeannette Andrews.
View photos from the event on the UofSC Nursing Facebook page.