Scholarship, Loan, and other Funds for Graduates:

Sally Johnson and George and Felicia Fullerton Scholarships

These funds are awarded to active members of the Association (Dues have been paid for the year that they apply and continues to be paid for the duration of the scholarship period).  They are for full and part time educational programs leading to a degree.  Certificate, Continuing Education, Refresher Courses, or similar programs, are not eligible for these funds.  The Certificate of Advanced Study in Nursing or related health care professions is eligible.  Application is made to the Scholarship Committee which reviews all applications and award grants based on monies available.  The maximum lifetime amount a graduate can receive in scholarship money is $12,000.  This is available in installments equal to or less than the actual cost of the semester hour credits earned each semester.   Application is available here. 

Committee Chair: Marlene Norton

Annabella McCrae Loan Fund

This fund offers low interest loans to active members of the Association for educational purposes only up to a maximum of $12,000 per applicant in installments based on actual costs of educational program.   The loan fund is available if scholarship funds have been used to the maximum level.   Refresher courses and the Certificate of Advanced Study in Nursing or related health care professions are eligible.  Repayment of educational loans starts after graduation and is usually over a two to four year period.  During the entire period of the loan and repayment dues must be paid annually.  Application is made to the Loan Fund Committee which reviews all applications and award loans based on eligibility and courses taken.  Application is available here.

Committee Chair:  Marlene Norton

Bertella Tompkins Fund

This estate was given to benefit the graduates of the school.  The income is used to assist active or complimentary members with health related expensed that are not covered by insurance or other source of payment.  The fund also is available for projects or major functions that will benefit the membership as a whole.   Requests are made in writing to the committee chair and funding is only given if there are receipts available for costs incurred.   Major project funding must be approved by the Board.

Committee Chair:  Mary Caira

The Heslin Estate Fund

The Board and a vote of the membership at an annual meeting approved this fund to be used for the cost of historical or archival needs of the organization.  It funds projects that promote the profession of nursing or maintain the history of nursing at the MGH.  The Oral History Project currently underway has received some funding from this fund.    Use of money is by Board vote.

Committee Chair:  Historian for the Alumnae Association

Awards, Scholarships and Funds for Students and the MGH Institute School of Nursing:

Ruth Sleeper Scholarship Award

Ruth Sleeper was a distinguished graduate of the MGH SON class of 1922. She was the Director of Nursing and of the MGH School of Nursing from 1946 to 1966. She worked diligently for the advancement of nursing and early on saw the need for higher nursing education. In 1945, she helped facilitate the affiliation of Radcliffe College with MGH School of Nursing that continued for many years.  Throughout her tenure as director, she continued to encourage the expansion of nursing education and promoted nursing research. She was a national leader, having been the National League for Nursing’s first president and having received the prestigious Florence Nightingale award.  She had a vision of nursing education being on a Master’s level at MGH and actively advocated for this and for all health professions. This led directly to the establishment of the IHP. She was much loved in her role as an instructor and as director. She was kind, gentle, soft spoken but firm. She took time out from her busy day as director of nursing to instruct in the day to day world of students.

In her memory and in honor of her work, the scholarship award is given to the student who best exemplifies “excellence in the theory and practice of nursing.”  The criteria are based first on the academic record of the student and then recommendation of the faculty on the ability of the student to transfer that academic information to excellence in clinical practice. Faculty must submit letters of recommendation on clinical practice to the Alumnae Association along with affirmation of high standing in the academic area.  The letters are requested to be submitted to the Alumnae no later than a month prior to the Generalist Completion Ceremony at IHP, at which the award is given.

Adele Corkum Award

The Adele Corkum Award is a monetary award of $1500.  This award honors the memory of a beloved graduate of the Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing, who devoted uncountable hours and immeasurable devotion to the School of Nursing, the Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Alumnae Association.  Corky died suddenly on Easter Sunday, 1986.  She was on her way to Easter Services at the Old West Church on Cambridge Street.  She had with her a wheeled cart that contained the food for the reception scheduled to follow services, and freshly laundered vestments for the minister.  As usual, she was helping others.  Her minister at her memorial service said it best.  “Corky was our friend and mentor.  She was truly a mother to us all.  She animated our living and listened to our fears.  She guided us, disciplined us, organized us, set high standards and expected our best efforts.  She made lists for us, gave precious gifts to us, and even named our transgressions for us.  But, the discipline was embroidered with compassion; the high standards gilded with great expectations.  Her nursing was not just a profession, but a way of life.  She elicited from us only what she demanded of herself.  Her leadership was born of love.  Her ministry was an incarnation of the timeless effort to reach us, teach us, make a name for us.  Her power, strength and love touched our lives.”

In choosing the recipient, we request that the person represent the qualities of Adele Corkum – admirable, diligent, extraordinary, loyal, energetic, loving, caring, outstanding, religious, kind, understanding, and motherly.   The award states that the student receiving the award has “outstanding compassion and caring toward classmates, patients and family.”  The award is given at the completion of the generalist portion of the program to the student who is chosen by both peers and faculty to exhibit these qualities.

The Miriam Huggard Scholarship

Miriam “Mim” Huggard, a 1931 graduate of the MGH School of Nursing, spent her entire career at the Massachusetts General Hospital.  Following her retirement, she remained at her beloved MGH volunteering countless hours in various areas of her interests including the MGH Nurses’ Alumnae Association (MGHNAA) where she continued to help the association and its graduates.

Mim was continuously active with the MGHNAA serving in many capacities over the years both as a member of the Board and as a member of various committees.  She contributed as the Alumnae Historian for the association and worked to keep the history of the MGHNAA alive.  In addition, from 1939 until its closure in 1980, Mim was the Treasurer of the Sick Relief Fund, a group of MGH graduates who provided support for MGHNAA who did not have sick pay or health insurance.

Once retired, Mim turned her full-time energies to full-time volunteering.  She volunteered in the MGH Flower Shop three days a week and in the MGH Nurses’ Alumnae Office two days a week. In 1997 the MGHNAA awarded her the Unsung Hero Award for her tireless dedication to the Alumnae Association. Mim was later awarded the Alumnae Achievement Award for excellence, innovation, and dedication to the practice of nursing at the 125th Celebration of Nursing Education at the MGH in 1998,

Mim was a gracious and noble woman who embraced change.  Her exemplary core values were palpable in her daily work and in her personal life.  She was a committed nurse devoted to her patients and a nursing leader dedicated to her staff. Throughout her career Mim exemplified all that embodies nursing. As a teacher and mentor she passed this legacy on to countless numbers of MGH nurses.

In her memory and in honor of her work and dedication to both the MGH and the MGHNAA, the scholarship award of $5,000 is given to a student in the MGH Institute School of Nursing Accelerated BSN Program at the start of their final semester.

Criteria for the Miriam “Mim” Huggard Scholarship include:

• Demonstration of exemplary clinical skills during the first three semesters of the program.  (Faculty should give specific examples in letter of recommendation)
• Embodiment of the core values identified above that made Mim an exceptional nurse, leader, and mentor.
• Consideration for a student who is working or who has worked at the MGH or in lieu of such, a student who is placed at the MGH in the Role Immersion/Clinical  Elective course in the final semester of the program.

Faculty of the Accelerated BSN Program should submit letters of recommendation for students who meet the criteria by the end of March to the MGH Nurses’ Alumnae Association. Nursing student candidates should submit a clinical exemplar/narrative describing a situation that best describes a meaningful nursing experience. The MGHNAA Board will make a final decision and award the scholarship prior to the start of the final semester (May) to assist with tuition.

The Student Paper Award

The MGHNAA is accepting submissions from the students of the MGH Institute School of Nursing for the Student Paper Award.  The awards will be made in October annually.  Deadline for submission is October 10.  The purpose of this award is to provide a mechanism by which to recognize outstanding students for creative and innovative writing skills in defining what nursing is to them or a topic of current interest in nursing.  The winning paper will be recognized as follows:   A $750 cash award and the paper will be published in the annual issue of the Record.

Eligibility and Requirements:  All students enrolled in the MGH Institute School of Nursing at the time of submission deadline are eligible.  The paper must be submitted in electronic form for publication (word or rich text format) to Lindaorrell@aol.com and to MGHnursealumnae@Partners.org  by October 10.  The paper should not exceed 10 pages including references, tables, and figures.  Include your name, email address, mailing address, and phone number with the submission.

Review Criteria:  The Communications and Publications Committee of the MGHNAA will review papers and decisions will be up to the discretion of the committee.  The decisions will focus on the ideas presented, writing style, and the general interest of the topic to the members of the Alumnae Association.

Notification:  All submissions will be notified by email when the submission is received and the winning award recipient will be notified by email and in written form within two weeks after the submission deadline.

Committee Chair:  Linda Lass Orrell

If you would like to contribute to any of these Funds, please send your check payable to the MGHNAA.  Identify the specific fund and include your name, address and contact information.  Donations to these funds are tax deductible contributions based on the limits of the tax codes. 

For more information on contributing to the MGH NAA or any of the funds that are managed by the NAA please refer to the area on Philanthropy.

MGH Nurses’ Alumnae Association Endowed Funds

Nursing Endowment Fund

This fund was originally started in 1914 to benefit the School of Nursing for the education of nurses, this fund is held by the MGH and a committee oversees the use of earnings of the fund on an annual basis.  The Association is one of the three voting members of the committee.   Over the years the funds have been used toward the cost of nursing faculty salaries at the MGH Institute School of Nursing.

The Board of the MGHNAA established two Endowed Funds in 2009.  Both of these funds carry the name of the Massachusetts General Hospital Nurses’ Alumnae Association in perpetuity as a lasting tribute to the dedicated graduates (MGH School of Nursing 1873-1981) who continuously support nursing education, professional development and the recording of the history of nursing education. 

The Massachusetts General Hospital Nurses’ Alumnae Association Endowed Fund for the MGH Institute of Health Professions MGH Institute School of Nursing

The annual distribution of this fund will provide financial support to students enrolled in a program of study in the MGH Institute School of Nursing that leads to licensure as a Registered Nurse and Registered Nurses who are students seeking an advanced degree in nursing.  The principal may not be invaded. Gifts can be made to this fund at any time.

The Massachusetts General Hospital Nurses’ Alumnae Association Endowed Fund for the Department of Nursing at the Massachusetts General Hospital

The annual distribution of this fund shall be applied toward the education of registered nurses and to support the nursing research initiatives of registered nurses to continuously advance the practice of nursing to improve patient outcomes through evidenced based nursing practice.  The principal may not be invaded.  Gifts can be made to this fund at any time.