“Academic Accomplishment” Class Notes

Mary Katherine “Kat”  Mckinney (Col ’11 L/M) earned her doctorate from the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in May 2018. She lives and practices in Greenville, South Carolina.

Patrick Edwards (Col ’07) received his doctorate in Systematic Theology in December 2017. He lives with his, Teresa, and their two children, Aiden and Charlotte, in Warrensburg, Missouri, where he serves as lead elder of First Baptist Church.

Kathy Tanner Waters (Engr ’88 L/M) earned her master’s degree in applied Christian theology from the University of Balamand in El-Koura, Lebanon. Ms. Waters is a business development manager for Cisco and resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Pat Bowen Walters (Educ ’85 L/M) is celebrating 20 years as founder and director of Private Schools Interscholastic Association, Inc. PSIA seeks to inspire student achievement through academic competition in 58 grade-level contests, coordinating 24 tournaments that advance to a state competition in each event. PSIA currently serves more than 50,000 grade 1-8 students in home and private schools.

Robert “Stewart” Eads (Col ’89, Med ’93 L/M) passed the American Board of Internal Medicine Certification Exam for the third time in November 2016. This was his second time passing without studying, proving that the UVA School of Medicine produces the smartest doctors on the planet.

Will Morton (Col ’95 L/M) completed a Master of Arts in Teaching from Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, in January 2017, and he is now certified to teach grades 1-6 in Maryland. In the fall, Mr. Morton started teaching first grade at a Title I school in Baltimore County, Maryland. Previously, he spent a decade in journalism in New York and a dozen years as an at-home dad in Baltimore.

Maureen Boland (Col ’90, Educ ’17 L/M) graduated from the Curry School of Education in May 2017 after successfully defending her doctoral dissertation, entitled “Principal Leadership and the Implementation of a District Instructional Coaching Framework” on March 31, 2017. Ms. Boland is an elementary school principal in Fairfax County Public Schools.

Victoria Martinez (Col ’13) received her doctor of chiropractic degree in August from National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, Illinois. She plans to return to Virginia to serve the Tidewater community.

“We are very proud of Martinez, as National University’s Doctor of Chiropractic degree program is one of the most demanding of its kind,” says President Joseph Stiefel of National University.

Colleen P. Murphy (Col ’83 L/M), professor at Roger Williams University School of Law, received the Rhode Island Bar Association’s Pro Bono Publico Award in June 2017. She was voted Professor of the Year by the law school’s 2017 graduating class.

Dan Vick (Col ’84 L/M) received a Doctorate in Health Administration from Central Michigan University in July 2017.  His dissertation topic was:  “An Assessment of Community Hospital Disaster Preparedness in New York State.”  Dr. Vick and his family also relocated from New York to Indiana this year where he assumed the role of Vice President of Medical Affairs for St. Vincent Evansville, a 475-bed hospital, and St. Vincent Warrick, a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital, in February.

Claudia Barone (Nurs ’88) was invested June 13, 2017 in the Nicholas P. Lang, M.D., and Helen F. Lang, R.N., Endowed Chair at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

As a nationally known expert in tobacco cessation and a leader in academic nursing, Ms. Barone was first invested in 2015 as the inaugural holder of the Lang Professorship at the UAMS College of Nursing. The professorship was elevated to an endowed chair, one of the highest academic honors a university can bestow on a faculty member, through additional gifts from the Langs and others. The chair will support Barone’s continued work in tobacco cessation.

“Endowed chairs are game changers in that they provide the chair holder with the time and financial resources needed to pursue educational excellence, world-class patient care and outstanding health care research,” said Patricia A. Cowan, dean of the UAMS College of Nursing, who presented Ms. Barone with a commemorative medallion. “Dr. Claudia Barone is a superb educator, clinician and researcher. We’re especially pleased to celebrate the vital advances in tobacco control that will unfold through her investiture in this endowed chair.”

Ms. Barone is a certified tobacco treatment specialist through the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Center for Tobacco Treatment Research and Training, and she was an appointed member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee from 2014-2015 and the Association for the Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence from 2013-2016. She served on the Arkansas Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Advisory Committee from 2008 to 2015 and was vice chairperson from 2013-2015.

Ms. Barone is a former dean of the College of Nursing, serving in the role from 2006-2011. She is now a tenured professor in the College of Nursing and an advanced practice partner in the UAMS Center for Nursing Excellence.

She came to UAMS in 1988 as a clinical nurse specialist in the UAMS Medical Center’s surgical division. In 1991, she became a clinical instructor in the College of Nursing. In 2002, she was named interim associate dean for the master’s program and served from 2003 to 2006 as associate dean for academic administration.

Mark Santana (Engr ’09) received a doctorate in environmental engineering from the University of South Florida in August 2015. He is a postdoctoral researcher at the Instituto Catalán de Investigación del Agua in Spain.

Cynthia Byers Walter (Col ’77) was awarded the degree of Doctor of Ministry in Christian Spirituality from Virginia Theological Seminary on May 18, 2017.  She is Rector of Lawrencefield Parish Church in Wheeling, WV, married to Richard W. Walter Jr. (Col ’74, Law ’77 L/M) and the mother of Benjamin Franklin Walter (Col ’05 L/M).

Brian K. Matney (Col ’87 L/M), an educator in Virginia Beach, is one of forty-six individuals across the United States and internationally to complete the Harvard University Graduate School of Education’s first offering of its certification in advanced educational leadership.  The CAEL program brings together educators on-line to study issues related to instructional innovation, professional development, evidence-based practice, and access and equity in education. Mr. Matney is married with two sons