Andrea Kline-Tilford, MSN, RN
BSN ‘92 - Andrea dedicates her nursing talents to children’s health. She has worked as a Staff Nurse in the pediatric intensive care unit, as a Pediatric Critical Care Nurse Practitioner, and currently works within the Section of Pediatric Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Allergy at Riley Hospital for Children.

Since 1999, Andrea has given over 50 presentations for the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, American Association of Critical Care Nurses and numerous other professional organizations. Topics have ranged from obesity in the PICU to questioning if preventative blood clot treatment is needed in children. Andrea is leading the challenge to reduce the incidence of pulmonary embolism deaths by actively sharing her knowledge on a national stage.

She continues to volunteer her professional expertise to benefit humanity. Her endless devotion to pediatric nursing earned Andrea the 2009 Alumni Service Award.

Dawn Fields, BSN, RN
BSN ‘93 - As the School Nurse for the Lansing School District, Dawn impacts the lives of high school students. She works at the Hill Center Campus which is an alternative education campus within the Lansing school district.

Through a grant from the Ronald McDonald Foundation she created the Nursery for Teen Parents. The nursery provides assistance to teen parents and their babies. The mothers receive both emotional and developmental care for themselves and their children while continuing to work towards graduating from high school. Another component of the Nursery for Teen Parents is pairing up MSU nursing seniors to work with the teen mothers as part of their Community Health Class.

For Dawn, utilizing her nursing career to positively impact the lives of teen mothers is a calling. Dawn’s mentorship in helping teen girls balance high school with motherhood, earned her the 2006 Outstanding Alumni Service Award.

Michelle Scott, MA, RN
BSN ‘95 - With the mission of improving the quality of life and care for patients and families in need of medical treatment, Michelle founded Voices For Health. Operating as the CEO, she opened the first language company in Michigan to specialize solely in healthcare.

With a commitment to advocacy Michelle helps "voice” issues on behalf of limited-English proficient clients, ethnic communities, healthcare providers and minority-owned businesses on a local and national level with various organizations.

Since 1998, Michelle has given over 50 presentations, and has held leadership positions in more than 15 agencies from the Behavioral Health Interpreting Advisory Board at California State University to West Michigan’s Migrant Resource Council. Her leadership to bridge linguistic and cultural communication gaps in healthcare earned Michelle the 2008 College of Nursing Alumni Service Award and the 2009 MSUAA Service Award.

Captain Sean Grimes, BSN, RN
BSN ‘97 - During Sean’s 13-year military career in the Army he held positions including Emergency Nurse and Physician’s Assistant. He devoted his mission to providing the best medical care to his fellow soldiers. Sean’s life tragically ended on March 4, 2005 when his armored Humvee was hit by an IED during combat patrol in Ar Ramadi, Iraq. For his bravery, we honor Sean for protecting our freedoms.

As a student, Sean possessed exceptional commitment to his Spartan education and graduated with honors. He was the recipient of a Distinguished Military Graduate Award from the Reserve Officers Training Corps. In his memory, Sean’s family established an endowed nursing scholarship in 2006 to provide assistance to nursing students that are Army Reservist, Army National Guard member, Active Army Soldier or honorably discharged veteran of these branches.

Susan Hoppough, PhD, RN
MSN ‘98 - Susan is one of Michigan Business Review’s Top Women in Health Care in 2009. Her distinguished accomplishments include securing numerous grants related to creating and improving community and culturally based educational programs. Susan’s program of research is funded by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. In this study, she aims to document the use of culturally specific information to better adapt techniques such as mammograms and screenings for Vietnamese women.

Susan is the Director of Research and Innovation at Saint Mary’s Health Care in Grand Rapids. She heads the research department and works with principal investigators in bringing clinical trials to patients. Additionally, she leads Saint Mary’s IdeaCycle© and "mines” the organization for ideas that have the capacity to work with venture capital and move into the market.

Sharon Olson, PhD, APRN, BC
MSN ‘98 - While Sharon was playing her harp at an outpatient chemotherapy clinic she met a woman named Catherine who was receiving chemotherapy. She had a small harp but never knew how to play it. Catherine gave her harp to Sharon in the hopes that she would make it "sing."

On the day of Catherine’s funeral, Sharon held her first training program and the Heart to Harp Community Volunteer Program was born.

Sharon is a Nurse Practitioner that specializes in bringing live music to the bedside to extend the caring tradition of the nursing practice. Bedside musical care is consistent with a philosophy of holistic nursing practice and is used to foster integrity and health for varied populations across the life span.

Margherita Procaccini Clark, MSN, RN, APRN-BC
MSN ‘99 - Margherita is the Interim Dean of the Health and Human Services Division at Lansing Community College. During her tenure she  led the expansion of Non-Traditional Nursing Programs and expanded the Traditional Program from 96 admissions to 224 admissions per year. She has dual interest in teaching and clinical practice; her clinical experience spans over 25 years of critical care nursing and 10 years as a volunteer Geriatric Nurse Practitioner.

In 2003, Governor Granholm appointed her to the Michigan Board of Nursing and she received a reappointment in 2007. Margherita was recognized with the Nightingale Award in 2004 for nursing education and research through Oakland University. She was honored by the MSU College of Nursing for the Carol E. Franck Nursing Leadership Award in 2009. Most recently, she led a group pledge of nursing colleagues to fund a research workstation in the new building.