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The Business of Caring A graduate draws on her nursing skills in her role as entrepreneur. Cheri McEssy was born into a Marquette family. Even today, living in Illinois 31 years after graduating from the College of Nursing, she stays closely connected to the university. McEssy is a third-generation alumna. Her grandfather, Hazen McEssy, graduated from Marquette Law School in 1936. Her parents, William McEssy, Arts ’61, Law ’64, and Lois La Mantia, met on campus and married, and after Cheri was born, her father finished his law degree. Her uncle and cousin also graduated from Marquette. McEssy’s family moved to Lake Forest, Illinois, when she was a teen, but she returned to Milwaukee to enroll in the college. After completing a bachelor of science, McEssy, Nurs ’85, worked as a traveling nurse — “I had a little bit of gypsy blood in me” — before settling in Chicago, where she continued her career as a pediatric intensive care nurse. She also volunteered for medical mission work in Bolivia for Illinois dioceses. In 2007, she caught the “entrepreneurial bug,” she says, and used her skills as a nurse to start a small business. She bought a franchise in BrightStar Care, a private-duty, home nursing care and medical staffing company with 300 locations nationwide. In any given week, her Chicago franchise has about 130 caregivers in the field. “There’s such a need for helping people get through life with dignity,” says McEssy, chief nursing officer and owner. “I’m not out there doing hands-on nursing, but I wouldn’t have the passion for the business if I wasn’t doing what I value as quality nursing.” In late 2014, McEssy became a partner in a firm that invests in startups in the health-and-wellness technology sector. One of the projects is a voicecontrolled watch that reminds wearers when to take medications, assists them in returning home, and contacts emergency services if they fall or need medical assistance. The device — called UnaliWear — has been compared to “an Onstar for seniors,” similar to the safety system in automobiles. Inspired by Marquette President Michael R. Lovell’s initiatives on research and innovation, McEssy expresses interest in joining campus discussions about entrepreneurship. She currently sits on the college’s Alumni Engagement Committee and recently made a “legacy promise” to create a scholarship for students in the college. “I am completely dedicated to the ‘Marquette nurse,’ ” she says. “I love the program. And I love being a nurse.” — Kurt Chandler
Peggy Troy wins TEMPO Award Peggy Troy, president and CEO of Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and a 1974 graduate of Marquette’s College of Nursing, received the TEMPO Milwaukee Mentor Award in February 2016. Created to recognize community leaders who are dedicated to mentoring, TEMPO presents a $5,000 scholarship in the winner’s name to a woman at a four-year institution of higher education in Wisconsin. Troy, who sits on Marquette’s Board of Trustees, designated her award to the nursing school. – Andrea Petrie
Nightingala FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4 6:00 p.m. Wisconsin Club Hosted by The College of Nursing Dinner and auction benefiting care for Milwaukee’s most vulnerable For information and registration: go.mu.edu/nightingala2016.