By Sarah Morgan Johnson
On September 12, the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing hosted its annual Alumni Night. The event provided an opportunity for alumni to network and reconnect with fellow classmates and faculty. It also recognized the accomplishments of 10 outstanding alumni for their impact on health care and the community. To see photos from the evening, click here.
FLORENCE A. HIXSON DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD
Cynthia Selleck, PhD, RN, FAAN (PhD 1987), received the Florence A. Hixson Distinguished Alumni Award. Selleck is Professor Emerita at the School, where she also is involved in the Women and Children Health Initiative and the Health Policy Initiative Advisory Board. She began her career at the School in 1980 as an Assistant Professor in community health nursing and returned to the School as a Professor and Associate Dean for Clinical and Global Partnerships from 2010-2019. As Associate Dean, she helped lead a number of efforts that remain in place today, including the School’s PATH Clinic, Nurse-Family Partnership of Central Alabama, the Graduate Nursing Education Primary Care Scholars Program, the School’s clinic at the WellHouse, the VA Nursing Academic Partnership between the Birmingham VA Health System and the School and Alabama’s first statewide Area Health Education Center Program.
Established in 1989, this award was renamed the Florence A. Hixson Distinguished Alumni Award in 2023 in honor of the School’s first dean. This award represents the highest honor bestowed by the School and recognizes an outstanding graduate who has demonstrated leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship to significantly enhance nursing on state and national levels.
Before she retired in 2019, Selleck was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and received the UAB Odessa Woolfolk Community Service Award in recognition of her dedication to improving access to care for underserved populations. In 2020, she was inducted into the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame and in 2021, she was named one of the UAB School of Nursing’s 70 Visionary Leaders at the School’s 70th Anniversary celebration.
LEADERSHIP AND HEALTH POLICY AWARD
Eileen Meyer, DNP, CRNP, ACNP-BC, (MSN 1997, DNP 2017), received the inaugural Leadership and Health Policy Award.
The Leadership and Health Policy Award recognizes an individual who has impacted state or national health policy through leadership and service.
Meyer is an Adjunct Clinical Instructor at the School and the Assistant Director of Advanced Practice Providers at UAB Medicine. Meyer is passionate about health policy, and she has worked to develop statewide procedural protocols, expand Medicaid billing codes and has advocated for Alabama Act 2018-474. Her commitment to health care advocacy has led her to pursue her Master of Jurisprudence with an Emphasis on Health Law, Policy and Management at Texas A&M School of Law. Over the course of her nurse practitioner career, she has been heavily involved with the Nurse Practitioner Alliance of Alabama. She has held various leadership positions, and she was elected NPAA President in 2023. Additionally, Meyer and her husband Bruce Burns, MD, MBA, FACP, have endowed scholarships at the UAB School of Nursing and the University of Charleston in West Virginia to support pre-licensure nursing students.
MARIE L. O’KOREN ALUMNI AWARD FOR INNOVATION
Terri Poe, DNP, RN, NE-BC (BSN 1986, DNP 2013), is one of two recipients of the Marie L. O’Koren Alumni Award for Innovation.
This award was established in 2013 in memory of the School’s second dean, Dr. Marie L. O’Koren. Dr. O’Koren valued alumni involvement and firmly believed that giving back to nursing education is vital to the future of health care. During her tenure as dean, Dr. O’Koren led the School to become one of the top 20 nursing schools in the country. This award recognizes alumni who, like Dr. O’Koren, have made innovative contributions to nursing.
Poe is an Associate Professor at the UAB School of Nursing and has served as the Chief Nursing Officer at UAB Hospital since 2014. She is a three-time UAB alumna and a two-time alumna of the School, graduating with her BSN in 1986, her Master of Public Administration and her Doctor of Nursing Practice in 2013. Poe holds Nurse Executive Board Certification, is an active member of the American Organization of Nurse Leaders and is a graduate of the America’s Essential Hospitals Fellowship Program. In 2020, she was one of 10 “top nurses” in the inaugural class of Alabama’s Top Nurses.
Stephanie Reed, DNP, RN (BSN 2008, MSN 2015, DNP 2022), also received the Marie L. O’Koren Alumni Award for Innovation. Reed is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the UAB School of Nursing and the Chief Clinical Information Officer at Children’s of Alabama. For more than 12 years, she has worked in health care information technology, teaching and mentoring Nursing Informatics students and authoring various HIT textbooks and articles. Reed is a Momentum Executive Alumni and is the recipient of multiple nursing excellence awards. Additionally, Reed is a founding member of the American Nursing Informatics Association Alabama Chapter, where she serves on the education committee, and is co-chair for the American Telemedicine Association’s Pediatric Special Interest Group.
YOUNG ALUMNI MERIT AWARD
Richkard Saint Louis, DNP, FNP-C (DNP 2024), is the recipient of the Young Alumni Merit Award.
Established in 2012, the Young Alumni Merit Award recognizes outstanding alumni who graduated within the last 10 years and are working in a health care setting and making a positive impact in patient care.
Saint Louis currently serves as a Battalion Surgeon for the 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment at Fort Moore, Georgia. His career in the United States Army began when he was direct commissioned as a family nurse practitioner. He has served in leadership positions such as the Primary Care Manager at General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital Outpatient Clinic and Officer in Charge of the Acute Injury Clinic. His exemplary service has been recognized with numerous awards and decorations, including the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, the Army Achievement Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
RISING STAR IN NURSE ANESTHESIA AWARD
Jacob Bonner, DNP, CRNA (BSN 2018, DNP 2023), received the Rising Star in Nurse Anesthesia Award.
This award was established in 2019 to recognize nurse anesthesia alumni who have graduated within the last five years. The recipient must demonstrate excellence as a clinical practitioner, promote quality health care and safety to their patients and families and contribute to the nurse anesthesia profession through service and outreach.
Bonner is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the School and a staff CRNA with Southern Anesthesia Management. He is a two-time alumnus of the UAB School of Nursing, graduating with his BSN in 2018 and his DNP in 2023. Bonner is passionate about providing anesthesia to obstetric populations and is a strong advocate for women’s health. In the classroom, Bonner works to support his students’ mental health and well-being.
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT IN NURSE ANESTHESIA AWARD
Rodney Overstreet, MNA, CH, CRNA (MNA 2001), is the recipient of the Career Achievement in Nurse Anesthesia Award.
The Career Achievement in Nurse Anesthesia Award was established in 2019 to recognize a nurse anesthesia graduate for their contributions to the profession and to patient care. The recipient of this award also exemplifies sustained efforts to lead and promote the nurse anesthesia profession.
Overstreet is a CRNA at UAB Medical West and studies burnout, compassion fatigue and PTSD in health care providers. He is a nationally certified life coach, mindfulness practitioner, cognitive behavioral therapy practitioner, neuro-linguistic programming practitioner and advanced pain management hypnotist. Additionally, Overstreet is a member of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists and Alabama Association of Nurse Anesthetists. In 2010 and 2022, Rodney was the UAB School of Nursing Anesthesia Clinical Educator of the year.
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT IN NURSE-MIDWIFERY AWARD
Sharon Holley, DNP, CNM, FACNM, FAAN (MSN 1996), received the inaugural Career Achievement in Nurse-Midwifery Award.
This Career Achievement in Nurse-Midwifery Award recognizes a certified nurse-midwifery graduate who has made a significant contribution to nurse-midwifery by improving access to quality maternal and child health care.
Holley is an Associate Professor and the Director of Didactic Education for the MSN Nurse-Midwifery Pathway at School. She has practiced as a certified nurse-midwife for 27 years and has been a nurse-midwifery educator for 14 years. Holley taught at the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing where she also served as the Director of the Vanderbilt Faculty Nurse-Midwife practice. She also taught at Baystate Medical Center, where she served as Division Chief of Midwifery. In 2021, Holley returned to her alma mater to reinstate the MSN Nurse-Midwifery Pathway at the UAB School of Nursing. She serves on the Alabama Maternal Mortality Review Committee, the Alabama Joint Committee with the Board of Nursing, the Board of Medical Examiners and is the Vice President for the Alabama affiliate for the American College of Nurse-Midwives. Holley is a Fellow of the American College of Nurse-Midwives and of the American Academy of Nursing.
JOANN BARNETT AWARD FOR COMPASSIONATE CARE
Caroline Baker, MSN, CRNP, PMHNP-BC (BSN 2011, MSN 2020), is one of two recipients of the JoAnn Barnett Award for Compassionate Care.
JoAnn Barnett was a UAB School of Nursing graduate and neonatal nurse practitioner at UAB Hospital. She went above and beyond for her patients and their families, always seeking to provide the highest quality of compassionate care. In 2002, Barnett lost her battle with cancer. That year, the Nursing Alumni Chapter established this award to honor her service and recognize deserving nurses who also exemplify the best in nursing care.
Baker is a Nursing Professional Development Specialist in the Center for Nursing Excellence and Center for Psychiatric Medicine and a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner in the Heart Failure Transitional Care Services for Adults clinic at UAB Hospital. Beyond her clinical and educational roles, she is a passionate advocate for mental health awareness. She is the creator of the Mental Health Detox YouTube page and the author of “The 30-Day Mental Reset Workbook” and “Mental Health Tips for Everyday Life.”
Brionna Philpot, BSN, RN (BSN 2021), also received the JoAnn Barnett Award for Compassionate Care. Philpot works at the UAB Hospital Cardiac Hospital Unit as a staff RN, mentor, preceptor, charge nurse, committee chair and Professional Nursing Development Program Level II RN. In December 2024, Brionna plans to graduate from the School’s DNP Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner specialty track. Brionna is deeply passionate about geriatrics and health literacy within minority and underserved populations. She is an active member of the American Nurses Association, Sigma Theta Tau Nurse International Honor Society, Lawson State Community College Nursing Advisory Board and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
