Alumna of the Year

Members of the Class of 1986 celebrate with their Alumna of the Year classmate: Greta Heinz Brooks, Carol Bettinger, Rosie Garcia Kreis, Alumna of the Year Dr. Jeannette Campbell Capella, Andrea Daly, Michelle Finger Cantoni and Suzette Lemrow.

DR. JEANNETTE CAMPBELL CAPELLA ’86

In November, Dr. Jeannette Campbell Capella ’86 was named Alumna of the Year at the annual Alumni Dinner. Capella has worked in the medical field as a trauma surgeon for over 20 years. She attended the University of South Florida for an undergraduate degree, a graduate certificate in disaster management and a doctorate in medicine. Capella was recently named partner at The Iowa Clinic, where she is the associate medical director of trauma services. Before her move, she was the assistant director of trauma at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Altoona in Pennsylvania.

Combining her love of medicine and education, Capella also serves as an adjunct clinical assistant professor of surgery at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. She has developed and delivered curricula for students, residents, nurses and other physicians, as well as published research and reviewed medical papers regarding trauma surgery and surgical critical care. Capella is also a part of the Trauma System Advisory Council for the State of Iowa and the Crisis Standards of Care Subcommittee for the Iowa Department of Public Health. Additionally, she is a published surgical educator with a master’s degree in adult education from the University of Georgia.

Capella has lived by the Academy’s motto, “Esse Quam Videri,” or “To be, rather than to seem.” Since 2001, she has served on federal disaster response teams, including those for Hurricane Rita, the earthquake in Haiti, Hurricane Maria and numerous other deployments around the continental U.S. She also has provided humanitarian aid in Zambia and Honduras. Currently, she serves on the National Disaster Medical System Trauma and Critical Care Team.

Classmate Greta Heinz Brooks explained at the dinner that Capella has felt overwhelming love and support from the Sisters of the Holy Names since the day she became a student at the Academy. In fact, Sister Mary Patricia Plumb, SNJM ’55, used to babysit Capella’s mother! Because she found the halls of the Academy to be a haven for learning and self-development, she has been a faithful alumna and shared her good fortune with her alma mater. In 2014, Capella established the Endowed Joanne Pascarella Memorial Scholarship in memory of her beloved mother.

In her senior yearbook, Capella quoted John D. Rockefeller: “I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.” Of her nominee, Brooks said, “She has used this quote as a roadmap for her life. It’s inspiring to see that at 18 years old, coming out of our wonderful alma mater, she knew who she wanted to be, and she had the tools to get there.”