Sharing the SONHS Spirit Gersom Manresa joined SONHS in 1998 and serves as senior manager for 25 Years of Growth and Gratitude
Coming Home
Global Community Builder
legacy. I fondly recall the school’s 50th anniversary celebration, complete with hot air balloon rides, and am thrilled to be part of the upcoming 75th anniversary festivities. Through the years, I have watched the school move from a run-down fraternity house on Red Road into the magni cent Schwartz Center for Nursing & Health Studies. The addition of the state-of-the-art S.H.A.R.E. simulation hospital serves as a testament to the commitment and vision of our leaders. What I cherish most, however, are the people I have had the privilege to work with and the atmosphere of mutual respect and collegiality that permeates our halls. Together, we continue to embody the SONHS mission: shaping future generations of health care professionals who will make a lasting impact on the world.”
Information Technology. “For over 25 years, I have had the honor of being part of the SONHS family,” he says. “I have witnessed the leadership of ve deans—Dean Horner, Interim Dean Pontious,
Dean Peragallo, Interim Dean Norris, and Dean Munro—and three presidents—President Foote, President Shalala, and President Frenk. Each left a unique imprint on the school’s
Johis Ortega, B.S.N. ’02, M.S.N. ’06, Ph.D. ’10 , ed Cuba with almost nothing in 1994. He spoke no English and worked two or three jobs at a time to support himself, but he never gave up on his dream of providing health care. Today, Dr. Ortega is not only a triple alumnus of the SONHS, he is associate dean for Hemispheric and Global Initiatives and a professor of clinical. In addition, he is an emergency department nurse practitioner and internationally respected educator leading the school’s PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Human Resources Development and Patient Safety and its Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Training Program grant from the NIH. “This is my calling. Being engaged in this school’s past, present, and future has been a dream come true,” he says. “I cannot imagine my life without the mentors who saw my potential and empowered me to soar beyond my wildest expectations. Their legacy of excellence lives in me, and I hope to leave my own legacy of excellence by continuing to inspire future generations with unparalleled hands-on education, research, and service opportunities at SONHS and around the world.”
Serving in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps from 1994 to 2017—including two tours in Iraq— Christopher Weidlich, B.S.N. ’94, Ph.D. ’13 , attained the rank of lieutenant colonel and received over a dozen medals for service. In 2020, he returned to his alma mater as an assistant professor of clinical, in teaching psychiatric-mental health nursing and clinical rotations. He explores the impact of extreme stressors on nurses, rst responders, and others in his research. In 2022, the SONHS student body voted him Teacher of the Year. “I instantly fell in love with the campus and students. Miami’s diversity and multiculturalism opened my mind to a new and exciting world. I have a lot of strong, positive memories of the University of Miami—meeting my wife here and establishing lifelong friendships, to name a few. After many more years, I was looking for graduate schools to complete my Ph.D., and UM stood out again. The school has changed buildings and moved across campus since I was a rst-year student, but the faculty—some of whom I’m lucky to call friends—remained terri c. They gave me a strong nursing education and experience that propelled my career forward. After retiring from the Army, my passion was to give back to those who helped me along the way. The best way to do this was to come and help impart my knowledge to the next generation of nurses who will go much further than I ever did.”
Most Valued Degree
Simulation Leader
Susana Barroso, Ph.D. ’16 , played a key role in launching the Simulation Hospital Advancing Research and Education (S.H.A.R.E.™) in 2017, and served as director of simulation hospital special projects from its opening through May 2020. Now on faculty at the University of
Doris Ugarriza, M.S.N. ’81 , earned her master’s degree in psychiatric mental health nursing from SONHS, joining the nursing faculty in 1987. In her distinguished 25-plus-years career at UM, she served as senior associate dean for academic programs, vice
North Carolina School of Nursing, she says, “I am a proud alum and former faculty at the SONHS. Under then-Dean Nena Peragallo’s leadership, I had the privilege of being involved in creating the S.H.A.R.E. simulation hospital from the rst meeting, through all the stages of planning and construction, to teaching the inaugural lab. Although I am no longer at SONHS, I believe a piece of me will always be there through the students I taught, the implementation of simulation across the curriculum, and the design of S.H.A.R.E.™. I will also always carry a piece of SONHS with me. GO ’CANES!”
dean, and professor, making a powerful impact on nursing education and research in mental health and postpartum depression. Her many career honors included a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award in Cyprus. “My most valued degree was the M.S.N. from the University of Miami. It opened the door for me to become a nurse educator and conduct a very meaningful program of research for more than 20 years,” she has said. “I feel a deep sense of gratitude toward our university, both for my education and for the opportunity to contribute to the advancement of the nursing profession.”
75 Years of Leadership at SONHS
Nilda Peragallo DEAN – 2004-2016
Dora Blackmon FIRST CHAIRWOMAN – 1952-1967
Barbara Buchanan DEAN – 1968-1970
Gwendoline MacDonald DEAN – 1970-1973
Diane Horner DEAN – 1973-2002
Sharon Pontious INTERIM DEAN – 2003
Anne Norris INTERIM DEAN – 2017
Cindy Munro DEAN – 2017 - PRESENT
24 heart beat | SPRING 2023
SPRING 2023 | heart beat 25
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