Vicki was a student at Monticello College, then Lewis and Clark Community College at its inception in 1970, and now works as a nurse practitioner and co-project director for the Nurse-Managed Center here on campus.

In May of 1973, she graduated with Lewis and Clark’s first Nursing class, then got her bachelor’s degree in 1983 and her Master’s in 1986, both from Saint Louis University. She also got her Adult Nurse Practitioner certification from the Jewish Hospital College of Nursing and Allied Health in 1996.

Vicki won an Illinois Nurse Association Nurse Practitioner Award for Innovations in Increasing Health Care Access in 2009, and other honors over the years.

“Lewis and Clark lives its mission statement every day. I started here in the community where I lived.  Financially, it was the only way I could go to college.  Even though academically I had received a scholarship to Northwestern University, I couldn’t afford any of the associated costs.  Lewis and Clark and George Terry in the Financial Aid Office (at the time) worked with me to get grants and student work.  This college got me the best start on life an 18 year-old girl on her own could possibly receive,” she said.

Her favorite memories are of learning to play Hearts and Spades from the Vietnam War veterans in the cafeteria and in “The Cabin,” a student hangout in the early 70s.

“Our nursing curriculum was so difficult, I would study every spare minute, except over lunch when these Vets would distract me to play cards,” she said.

Vicki’s life here at Lewis and Clark has come full circle in the past 40 years.

“Now I have the great opportunity to be the best Co-Project director for the federal grant which has allowed L&C to become the only community college in the country to have a Nurse Managed Center for Healthcare and Education - a clinic that serves those who need medical care with high quality at a low cost.”

Return to 40 Years main page.