UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In 2021, John Nehring found purpose in endowing the Susan Kay Nehring Memorial Nursing Scholarship in the Penn State Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing, memorializing his late wife, Susan. Susan was an exemplary nurse who worked in various mother and baby hospital unit settings and at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center for five years.
He made a new gift to the scholarship in 2022 in which he pledged an estate commitment of $1.5 million to impact nursing students with financial need far into the future. Now, impressed with the experience of giving to the college, its highly regarded nursing program and the meaningful connection he made with the nursing students who received his scholarship, Nehring has committed an additional $760,000 from his estate, which will be received by the college upon his passing, to grow the Susan Kay Nehring Memorial Nursing Scholarship.
“I have greatly enjoyed seeing the impact of the scholarship. The recipients are all very high caliber students who have direction, purpose and goals for their future. Through the scholarship, they were able to afford rent and other necessities during their clinical rotations at Hershey,” said Nehring. “I am delighted to know that when my money goes to Penn State and to the College of Nursing, it’s going towards a good cause and will have definitive meaning. To help send future nurses in the right direction and elevate them is critical, especially given the shortage.”
Madison Kelly, a third-year BSN (bachelor of science in nursing) student at the University Park campus from Ardmore, Pennsylvania, was one of the first nursing students to receive the scholarship. After taking an anatomy and physiology class her third year of high school and a medical career program through a local technical school, Kelly said she knew nursing would be a fulfilling path for her.
Once enrolled in the college, Kelly took advantage of the many opportunities available to students. Thanks to the scholarship, she was able to gain valuable experience through an internship over the summer at Bryn Mawr Hospital, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, shadowing nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals, further reinforcing the longstanding interest in her nursing career journey, she said.
“The scholarship has undoubtedly made my nursing journey easier, helping to not only pay tuition, but also to supplement the extra cost of everyday living expenses so I don't have to work another part-time job,” said Kelly. “It has given me more free time to explore the different things I want to do and focus on school, and I am so grateful for that because finances can be a huge barrier for some people in college. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.”
Kelly said she has enjoyed critical care nursing the most throughout her time working in healthcare and hopes to pursue it upon graduation. She also hopes to one day return to higher education and obtain either a nurse practitioner or anesthetist degree.
Support for the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing facilitates opportunity and transforms lives. Contributions bolster students, strengthen dynamic programs and fuel innovative research that is shaping the future of nursing.
Gifts like the Susan Kay Nehring Memorial Nursing Scholarship advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients, and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.