Celebrating the establishment of the Megan and Andy Ladner Endowed Scholarship in Nursing at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) College of Nursing are, left to right, Dr. Louise O'Keefe, associate dean of graduate programs; Megan’s parents, Jack and Pamela Benson; Megan Ladner; Andy Ladner, holding their son Cameron; Andy’s mother, Kellie Ladner, holding their other son, Jackson; Dr. Karen Frith, dean of the College of Nursing, and Dr. Helen Lien, senior development officer.
Newswise — A $26,000 gift to the College of Nursing at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) honors the work of two nursing alumni and paves the way for future students to pursue their nursing dreams.
The Megan and Andy Ladner Endowed Scholarship in Nursing was established through a gift from Janene Chase, a family friend of the Ladners. Megan received her bachelor’s in nursing in 2013 and her master’s in nursing in 2019 from UAH, a part of the University of Alabama System. Andy graduated with his bachelor’s in nursing in 2018.
“I endowed this named scholarship to honor Megan and Andy for their commitment to nursing excellence, and for their dedication and hard work in service to the Huntsville community,” Chase says. “My hope is that this scholarship will assist future nurses in following in their footsteps, and will enable them to also contribute to quality healthcare in our area.”
“I am grateful to Janene Chase for her generosity in honoring the Ladners,” says Dr. Karen Frith, dean, College of Nursing. “We need highly educated, compassionate nurses like the Ladners to serve our community. The scholarship will assist students who dream of becoming nurses to achieve their goals.”
Megan started working at Huntsville Hospital in 2014 and then spent time as a travel nurse before returning to Huntsville for graduate school. Both Ladners worked at Huntsville Hospital after Andy graduated from UAH.
Now Megan is a nurse practitioner at Innova Primary Care, and Andy is a neuro-ICU nurse and directs the neuro-spine floor at Huntsville Hospital. The Ladners have two sons, Cameron, 2, and Jackson, 1.
As a longtime family friend and sometime neighbor, Chase was impressed by the couple’s dedication to their work and their young family.
“I helped take care of both of their boys when they were babies for over a year, so I saw first-hand the challenges the Ladners had to deal with through COVID and other healthcare crises,” Chase says. “Megan and Andy faced all of the challenges of the past few years with unwavering dedication, grace and determination.”
The Ladners had no idea this scholarship fund was in the works.
“We love Aunt Janene,” Megan Ladner says. “This was such a surprise.”
The Ladner Endowed Scholarship fund will award one or more scholarships annually to junior or senior undergraduate or graduate students pursuing a degree in the College of Nursing. The scholarship will pay for tuition and fees.
Recipients, who will be known as Ladner Scholars, must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Preference will be given to students who demonstrate financial need.
As long as funds are available to award the scholarship, it will renew automatically for up to two more years if the recipient maintains full-time enrollment, continues to make satisfactory progress toward a degree, and meets all other mandatory scholarship selection criteria.
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