Elizabeth Kemble Alumni Awards
The Elizabeth Kemble Nursing Alumni Award, one of the highest honors bestowed by the College of Nursing, recognizes the college's notable alumni achievements in research, practice and leadership.
Elizabeth Kemble Alumni Awards | 2023 Recipients
Nominate a Nursing Alumna/Alumnus
Do you know a nursing alumna/alumnus who has gone above and beyond in nursing research, practice or leadership? Nominate them for the Elizabeth Kemble Alumni Nursing Award by January 31, 2026.
Honorees will be celebrated during the college's annual Pinning Ceremony.
2025 Honorees
Latrice Behanan, MSN, RN, CMSRN, holds more than 20 years of healthcare experience, including the last 10 in leadership positions. She currently serves as director of nursing at Good Samaritan Hospital, overseeing the inpatient medical-surgical division. Known for leading high-performing teams and driving exceptional patient outcomes, Latrice is passionate about mentoring nurses and promoting community wellness through volunteer efforts. Latrice has also served as an adjunct nursing instructor at the University of Cincinnati and Mount St. Joseph University.
DeAnna Hawkins, DNP, RN, is Vice President of Patient Services, Acute Care at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, overseeing 1,300 employees and a $360M budget. She leads six nationally ranked service lines and has held leadership roles including Assistant Vice President and Clinical Director. Dr. Hawkins has led system-wide initiatives, presented nationally, and published peer-reviewed research. A recipient of numerous awards and serving on several local and national boards and committees, she is deeply committed to health equity and community impact, inspiring youth in her hometown of Avondale to pursue careers in healthcare.
Tracey Yap, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN, is a professor at Duke University School of Nursing and a Senior Fellow in the Duke University Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. Her research focuses on improving care for older adults, specifically through enhancing nursing practices to promote mobility and prevent geriatric conditions like facility-acquired pressure injuries. Dr. Yap has received research grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Institute of Nursing Research, and others. She has been recognized with multiple honors, including induction into the American Academy of Nursing (2015) and the Gerontological Society of America (2018). In 2019, she received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
Previous Honorees
- Gail Bagwell '90
- Felicia Beckham, '08, '14
- Myrna Little, '98, '19
- Becky Miars '71
- Kathy Oliphant '12
- Deasa Dorsey '10
- Leslie Evers '71, '75
- Tammy Lockhart '16
- Susan Newell '21
- Lu Ann Reed '96, '19
- Ashlie Cramer '10
- Heather Eckstein '12
- Rachel Smith-Steinert '01, '07, '16
Who was Elizabeth Kemble?
Elizabeth Kemble and students
As the founding dean of the UNC School of Nursing, UC alumni, and a Nursing trailblazer, Elizabeth Kemble dedicated her life to serving others. “There is no such thing as a menial task in caring for a human being,” Kemble once said.
After earning her nursing diploma in 1927 from UC, she earned a master’s in nursing and a doctorate in nursing education by 1948, a feat unheard of for a woman of her day.
At North Carolina, Kemble was given one year to hire faculty, develop a curriculum, oversee construction of the school of nursing building and dorms, find additional scholarship funding and recruit high school seniors to start the following fall. Her first class, in 1951, was made up of 27 women, a big deal for North Carolina which had only admitted female students as transfer students up to that point.
By the time the school celebrated its 10th anniversary, Kemble had guided it through the accreditation process for the bachelor’s and master’s programs and enrollment had increased to 235 students.
Kemble’s work caught the eye of the U.S. Air Force, which brought her on as the national consultant to the surgeon general in 1959. She became the first professional nurse to be ranked a brigadier general.
For questions, please reach out to Gage Woolley, program director for alumni engagement.