Dean Rita P. Kelleher Award
The Dean Rita P. Kelleher Award recognizes a graduate of the Connell School of Nursing who embodies the 吃瓜网 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鈥檚 namesake, Rita P. Kelleher, was the nursing school鈥檚 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.
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2025 Recipient
Nancy Gaden, M.S. 鈥�87
Nancy Gaden, D.N.P., RN, FAAN, is the Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Boston Medical Center. She will receive the Dean Rita P. Kelleher Award for alumni achievement in spring of 2025.
Past Kelleher Award Recipients
Click on the links below to view details from past events.
2024
Adelene Egan, 鈥�18
Emergency Department RN
NewYork-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Medical Center
2023
Former Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
2022
Past President
Massachusetts School Nurse Organization
2021
President
The John A. Hartford Foundation
2020
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kelleher Award activities were canceled
2019
Director of Diversity for Nursing and Patient Care Services
Massachusetts General听Hospital
2018
Senior Nurse Anesthetist
Boston Children's Hospital
Former Chief Clinical Officer for Ebola Response
Partners in Health
2017
Board of Trustees
American Nurses Foundation and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
2016
Colonel, Army Nurse Corps, US Army Reserve
Force Health Protection Integrator, Army Health Command听
Family Nurse Practitioner
Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center
2015
Associate Director of Nursing and Patient Services
VA Boston Healthcare System
2014
Executive Director, Ethics Service
Brigham and Women鈥檚 Hospital
Nurse Ethicist
Massachusetts General Hospital鈥檚 Institute for Patient Care
Co-chair
MGH Optimum Care Committee
2013
President
Association of Women鈥檚 Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses
2012
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Brigham and Women鈥檚 Hospital
2011
Nurse Practitioner and Preceptor, Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit
New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia Medical Center
2010
Pediatric Oncology Nurse
2009
Director, Clinical Services
Partners Harvard Medical International