UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For almost 40 years, Susan Nehring pursued her dreams of helping women and their babies as a nurse in obstetrics, labor and delivery, postpartum care, a neonatal intensive care unit and pediatrics departments, including a five-year stint at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Not long after retiring at the age of 64 in 2002, she passed away due to a rare type of cancer.
In 2021 her husband, John Nehring, to honor his wife’s memory, gifted $100,000 to endow the Susan Kay Nehring Memorial Nursing Scholarship in the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing. Then, in December 2022, Nehring gifted an additional $100,000 towards the scholarship and committed $1.5 million in his estate for the scholarship, to help nursing students experiencing financial difficulties achieve their dream in becoming exceptional nurses, just like Susan. He chose to activate the scholarship early with annual gifts, so students can benefit immediately from the support, he said.
“Gifts such as John’s are a critical piece in our ability to ensure high-quality education is available and easily accessible to all of our promising young nurses,” said Laurie Badzek, dean of the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing. “His generosity not only helps deliver a more diverse group of nurses to the profession, but it also supports our exceptional students’ ability to bring patient-centered care expertise to their communities, building a healthier future for the people of Pennsylvania and beyond.”
Nehring said, “My wife was one of the most exemplary nurses I have ever met. Especially since I came from a family of nurses, I was well aware of how amazing they were and the dedication it took to be one. Susan really truly cared. She was always one to go above and well beyond."
The scholarship is awarded to individuals who graduated from a Pennsylvania high school and qualify for need-based financial aid. Since its inception in 2021, two students have received the scholarship and communicated their appreciation to Nehring through letters and in Zoom meetings. Being able to hear from the students firsthand about their journey has given him a strong sense of pride, he said, and reinforced that his commitment to the college has been worthwhile.
“I wanted to do something meaningful in remembrance of Susan, and since I graduated from Penn State and she loved working at Penn State, I established the scholarship here,” said Nehring. “I also wanted to assist a student who had the same love of nursing and who had hopes of obtaining a nursing degree.”
Nehring said that although he was able to work and pay his way through college, that option isn’t always feasible with today’s tuition costs. By helping to alleviate the increased cost of education and bring more nurses to the workforce, Nehring hopes, in turn, to help to alleviate the nursing shortage.
“I think Susan would be overjoyed about the scholarship. It’s like she's reaching down from up above and giving these nursing students a helping hand and a little impetus to succeed,” said Nehring. “I wanted to help people because she helped so many people — it's just the kind of things we would do.”
Susan was not only a nurse, but also a nurse educator, said Nehring. She was instrumental in developing baby care classes, sibling’s classes and prenatal classes at the hospitals where she worked. She also completed her professional childbirth educator certification.
“It was as though she transported the love for her children, the greatest love a mother can have, to her work,” Nehring said. “The people she worked with and the women that she provided care to were friends for life.”
Learn more about how to support the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing and ways to give, here.
Gifts like the Susan Kay Nehring Memorial Nursing Scholarship in the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing 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.