Alumni Making Their Mark ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: MEG BAERTL BROWN BSN alumna Meg Baertl Brown was selected by the Better Business Bureau as a “Southeast Texas Woman of Integrity.” BBBs throughout Texas, in partnership with Lamar Institute of Technology, recognized the four 2020 “Woman of Integrity” honorees during the BBB Texas Professional Women’s Conference, held virtually on October 22. Brown has been a nurse for 14 years in the pediatric, obstetrics and gynecology, and hospice fields. She earned her M.S.N. in Nursing Administration at Lamar University, and is completing her post-master’s Family Nurse Practitioner certificate from West Coast University. Involved in many local civic organizations, she set up the PeriodPower Pantry in the Beaumont/ Orange area to provide menstrual period products to girls and women in need in Southeast Texas. She has delivered over 200 packs (each contains an inspirational card) to local high schools and nonprofits, as well as distributing packs to aid in the Hurricane Laura relief. Meg was born in Lima, Peru and raised in Fawn Grove, Pennsylvania. She made her way to Southeast Texas with her family in 1995. – October 2020
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: The UTMB School of Nursing Alumni Association Hall of Fame honors graduates who have made significant contributions to nursing through commitment to excellence in patient care, community service and nursing leadership. The following new Hall of Famers were honored in October 2020: •
Dr. Safa’a Al-Arabi
Dr. Steven Branham
Dr. Allison Edwards
Dr. Safa’a Al-Arabi, a 2003 graduate of the Ph.D. in Nursing program, has worked in several nursing specialty areas including medical, obstetrics, pediatrics and community health. She has held leadership positions in UTMB SON, currently serving as CNL track administrator in the M.S.N. program.
• Dr. Steven Branham was a member of the inaugural graduating cohort of the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program at UTMB SON in 1996. He has over 39 years of progressive health care delivery experience, and has provided instruction to over 500 acute care nurse practitioners as well as many other practicing nurse practitioners. • Dr. Allison Edwards (B.S.N., 1987), is an assistant professor at UTHealth Cizik School of Nursing, where she established the Joan and Stanford Alexander Fellowship in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in 2017. A long-time supporter of her alma mater, she serves on the UTMB Development Board. First appointed in July 2015 by Governor Greg Abbott, Edwards now is vice president of the Texas Board of Nursing.
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