News Releases
University of Maryland School of Nursing’s Hospital Partnership Program for the Conway Scholarship Launches with First Enrolled Student
February 7, 2019
RN from UMMC’s Midtown Campus begins RN-to-BSN program on full scholarship.
Baltimore, Md. – Corey Duggan, RN, Clinical Nurse II, Emergency Department, University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) Midtown Campus, this semester becomes the first student to enroll in the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) through its new Hospital Partnership Program, which awards participants a full Conway Scholarship.
Funds for the Conway Scholarship Hospital Partnership Program, which aims to facilitate baccalaureate-level education for registered nurses at the UMMC Midtown Campus and at the University of Maryland Prince George’s Hospital Center, come from a transformational $10 million gift from Bill and Joanne Conway through their Bedford Falls Foundation. The Conway Scholarship covers in-state tuition, fees, books, and the cost of community college prerequisites required for admission to UMSON’s RN-to-Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. The gift will fund Conway Scholarships for 42 registered nurses to earn their BSN degrees through the Hospital Partnership Program.
“I am truly honored to have been selected for the Conway Scholarship. Receiving this scholarship is such a blessing,” Duggan said. “This means I will be able to continue my education and continue to make a change for myself, my hospital, and my community. I am so thankful for the opportunities that the University of Maryland School of Nursing has given me.”
“We are excited to welcome Corey Duggan as the first Conway Scholar under this significant new Hospital Partnership Program,” said UMSON Dean Jane Kirschling, PhD, RN, FAAN. “As a clinical nurse at UMMC Midtown, Mr. Duggan exemplifies the level of dedication and commitment to excellent patient care that this program seeks to support and foster. We are grateful to the Conways for the visionary philanthropy which will allow him to further advance his career and continue to serve the needs of our community.”
The Conway Scholarship Hospital Partnership Program is helping to fulfill one of the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine’s landmark 2010 report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, which aims to increase the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80 percent by 2020.
The Conways have pledged more than $15 million to UMSON since 2015. Their most recent gift is one of the largest outright scholarship gifts to any school of nursing in the country. In addition to funding the Hospital Partnership Program, the Conways’ latest gift will fund 341 scholarships, bringing the total number of students benefiting from Conway Scholarships to more than 470.
The Conways decided several years ago that their philanthropy should help people who have demonstrated financial need to receive the education necessary to obtain jobs. Bill Conway is co-founder and co-executive chairman of the Carlyle Group, in Washington, D.C. The Conways are trustees of the couple’s Bedford Falls Foundation, which has bestowed significant nursing scholarships in the Mid-Atlantic region.
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The University of Maryland School of Nursing, founded in 1889, is one of the oldest and largest nursing schools in the United States and is in the top 10 nationally for all of its ranked master’s and DNP specialties. Enrolling nearly 1,900 students in its baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral programs, the School develops leaders who shape the profession of nursing and impact the health care environment.