Donors give $100,000 for new nursing scholarship

Chicago (Sept. 10, 2007) – Saint Xavier University Trustee and alumna Judith E. Hicks, ’69, and her husband, Laurence, have donated $100,000 to fund a scholarship for nursing students at Saint Xavier University.

The scholarship will provide financial support for undergraduates who express interest in using technology to benefit patients. The scholarships will be awarded annually beginning this fall.

“More than 95 percent of Saint Xavier’s undergraduate nursing students receive some form of financial aid,” said Saint Xavier University President Judith A. Dwyer, Ph.D. “It is through the generosity of people such as Judith and Laurence Hicks that we are able to serve such an economically diverse student body.”

Saint Xavier University is ranked 16 out of 146 Midwest masters’ universities in terms of economic diversity according to the U.S. News and World Report rankings.

“Scholarship support for undergraduate nursing students is critical for successful completion of the program in a timely way,” said Kay E. Thurn, interim dean of the School of Nursing. “A very generous gift of $100,000 donated by Judith Hicks, a SXU School of Nursing alumna, will support the education of nursing students with a particular focus on application of technology to patient care.”

Hicks received her B.S. in nursing at Saint Xavier in 1969 and her master’s in nursing from the University of Illinois-Chicago in 1975. She worked as a nurse and manager at Mercy, Northwestern and Children’s Memorial hospitals until 1985.

She is the founder and former president of Focused Health Solutions, a Deerfield-based national provider of customized health services dedicated to reducing employers’ healthcare costs, improving the lives of employees and their families, and creating a healthier, productive workforce. FHS is one of the first companies to offer direct prevention services using nurses as coaches to counsel and monitor chronically ill employees as well as family members and retirees.

“My time at Saint Xavier was extremely positive, and I attribute that to the school’s uniquely caring professors and instructors,” Hicks said. “It is my hope that this scholarship will allow future nursing students the freedom to enjoy the same rewarding experience that I had.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION:Contact Joe Moore773-298-3937 or jmoore@sxu.edu