Hometown: Arlington, Va.

Degree: B.A. in communication studies and sociology (double major)

Current job: Concierge at Sofitel and events consultant at Tony and Joe’s Seafood Place and Nick’s Riverside Grill

My best memories of NU are: the lifelong friends and experiences we had/still have.

My favorite hangouts were: the Student Government or Index offices.

My favorite parts of my job are: the smiling faces after an event I assist with planning or the appreciation from a guest after he or she takes advantage of a recommendation I made.

When I’m not working, you’ll find me: biking (road bike) — I have participated in ADA Tour de Cure and the MS100 fundraising rides, as well as the Seagull Century — or at any of the museums and art galleries in Washington, D.C.

I still want to learn how to: skydive.

I decided to become a chapter leader because: we needed one. With the passing of longtime chapter leader Paul McCarthy, ’60, a few of us decided we would band together and continue what Paul did successfully for so many years — keep people from the D.C./Va./Md. areas involved and informed.

Our chapter is planning: a night at Ford’s Theatre, game watches, Honor Flight meet and greets.

Alumni should stay connected to Niagara by becoming involved in their local chapters because: it gives them an opportunity to network. A strong alumni group can assist recent grads, alumni interested in a career/job change, or a transplant with business connections, area information such as schools, neighborhoods, etc., and be a friendly face in a new and sometimes intimidating area. It is also a way to be social. We enjoyed the social aspect of Niagara, now we can share it with alumni of all ages, telling stories about the “old days” to new grads and creating new memories. Most importantly, it provides a way for Niagara University alumni to continue in the tradition of St. Vincent de Paul to help others. Our chapter is fortunate enough to be in Washington, D.C., and we serve our military families through Honor Flight, Wreaths Across America, and Wounded Warrior events. We also participate in inner-city projects to help brighten up schools or playgrounds. We live the Niagara tradition away from Monteagle Ridge.

More information on our chapters can be found at www.niagara.edu/alumni-chapters/.

Barbara (Nagengast) Traver wanted to be a nurse. When it came time to choose a college, she selected Niagara University because of its excellent nursing program. She also thought that, with a 5:1 male to female ratio, she might find a husband. It all came to pass. Barbara met and married Arthur Traver, a Niagara University accounting major. They both graduated in 1969 and went on to have three children and fulfilling careers in their respective fields.

Barb and Art actively serve their community, their church, and professional organizations. They also serve their alma mater. Both have been officers and board members for the Friends of NU Theatre for a number of years. In 2011, they were presented with The Spirit of Niagara University Theatre Award in recognition of their support. Barbara has also been a member of the College of Nursing’s mentoring program, co-founded the Niagara University Nursing Alumni Council, and serves on the nursing department’s advisory committee. To thank Barbara and Art for their outstanding support of and devotion to Niagara, the university presented them with the Alumni Award in 2004.

In addition to the time and treasure the couple currently shares with Niagara, they have named Niagara University’s theatre program as the beneficiary of life insurance policies that they both own, leaving a legacy that will benefit NU’s future theatre students.

For more information on how to include Niagara University in your estate plans, please contact Leslie K. Wise, ’82, at 716.286.8590 or lwise@niagara.edu. You may also visit us online at http://niagara.givingplan.net.

The Niagara University alumni team of (l-r) Bob Gadawski, ’90, Robert Gedeon, ’81, and Howard Morgan, ’86, won the Doc Marino Trophy at the 65th annual Little Three Golf Tournament in June. Their score of 257 beat those of teams from Canisius College and St. Bonaventure University.

Robert P. Ingrasci Jr., ’08

Hometown: Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Degree: BBA in accounting

Current job: Tax manager at Lumsden McCormick LLP

My best memory at Niagara is: the lifelong friendships that were made.

My favorite hangouts were: Gallagher and the senior apartments.

My favorite part of my job is: the opportunities to build relationships and serve as a trusted advisor in assisting individuals achieve their future goals.

When I’m not working, you’ll find me: spending time with friends and family, hiking the Niagara Gorge trails.

I decided to become a chapter leader because: Niagara gave me the opportunity for an excellent education and prepared me well for my career. I hope to encourage past and future graduates to promote, support, and remain connected to the university that provided us with the foundation for our future.

Alumni should stay connected to Niagara by becoming involved in their local chapters because: it provides an excellent opportunity to network with old friends, new friends, and colleagues. The local chapters encourage a sense of community and restore the special bond that we all share as alumni.

Courtney Donahue, ’08

Hometown: North Tonawanda, N.Y.

Degree: B.A. in political science

Current job: Associate in the estates and trusts department at Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman

My best memory at Niagara is: Senior Week.

My favorite hangout was: Gally.

My favorite part of my job is: my clients. I know it sounds cliché; however, in the estates and trusts field, I work with a lot of families. Providing families with either legal assistance during hard times or peace of mind with planning is very rewarding for me.

When I’m not working you’ll find me: staying active with my family and friends. Western New York has so much to offer, from events at Canalside in Buffalo, to hiking at the Gorge in Lewiston, to enjoying a day in my hometown of North Tonawanda. I try to take advantage of what we have here in our backyards.

I still want to learn how to: golf.

I decided to become a chapter leader because: I wanted to stay connected to Niagara University and know what is happening with the school academically and socially. Being able to support the school with my time while staying involved with the local alumni chapter is a great way to accomplish that.

Alumni should stay connected to Niagara by becoming involved in their local chapters because: Western New York is a very small community. Staying connected to alumni will allow you to learn who in the community is also an NU alum. After making these connections, it is just another way that we as alums can support each other professionally, socially, or other ways in the community.

Several Class of 1977 classmates got together in July for an informal reunion. Back row: Jackie Doyle (left), Liz Ferro Devine (second from left), Anne Lynch Dussel (fourth from left), and Michele Seyranian (fifth from left). Bottom row (l-r): Barbara Marzano, Anne Bentley, and Peggy Ranft Day.

Great friends from the NU Class of 1977 gathered in April at the home of Peter and Barbara (Foley) Ferrigno in Daniel Island, S.C. (L-r): MaryKay Cadin-Roickle, Mary Daley Kroll, Barbara Foley Ferrigno, Ellen Daly, Karen Lyons Goodman, Gail Kellmurray Colten, and Maureen Kelly. In front, Mary Falk Kelly. Karen notes that, “Our friendship, born on Monteagle Ridge, has truly stood the test of time!”

Best friends from the Class of 2009 (l-r) Kimberly Ginger, Christiana (Curcio) Nagel, Chelsea (Neathery) Jensen, Jonathan Garete, and Gigi Giorgi got together in New York City this past February to shop for bridesmaids dresses for Kimberly’s September wedding and to celebrate Jonathan’s birthday.

Members of NU’s Alumni Engagement staff traveled to Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., this past March to attend the inauguration of Dr. Linda M. LeMura, ’82, as its 14th president. She is the first lay female to serve as the president of a Jesuit institution in the world, and just the second layperson to lead Le Moyne on a permanent basis. Prior to being named president, Dr. LeMura served for five years as the college’s provost and vice president for academic affairs, as acting and interim provost for two years, and as the college’s dean of arts and sciences for four years. Pictured (l-r) are Jaclyn Rossi, ’08, M.S.Ed.’10, associate director of leadership giving; Christine O’Hara, ’88, M.S.Ed.’06, executive director of alumni engagement; Linda LeMura; and Howard Morgan, ’86, associate director of alumni and volunteer engagement.

Class of 1986 classmates and roommates (l-r) Theresa Walsh Langan, Amy Fenn Orsini, Clare O’Connell Donahue, Leslie Kirsch, and Karen Dombrowski Meaney, celebrated their 50th birthdays at Lake Anna, Va.

For the past four years, friends from NU’s Class of 1979 have been getting together during the last week of April. This year, they met in St. Augustine, Fla., and took this photo just before embarking on a food and wine-tasting tour of the oldest city in the U.S. From l-r: Dorothy Downs Slater, Elizabeth Ash Mitchell, Paula Marinaccio Pisarski, Anne Dunn Hart, Mary Kay Manns, Christine Henneman Niederpruem, Nancy Gelczis Walton, Christine Briskar Eisenbeis, Anne Hennigan Selover, and Suzanne McGrath O’Rourke.

The Surace family celebrated the graduation of daughter Christianna (Surace) DeVoe, ’15, on May 16, 2015. From left, Rocco Surace Jr., ’12; Christianna; Deborah (Rindo) Surace, ’79; and Rocco Surace Sr., ’77.

A number of NU alumni celebrated the wedding of Jessica Bova, ’09, and Ryan Mahoney, ’09. Front row, l-r: Conrad Lauer, ’09; Ashley Steeves, ’09; Jessica (Bova) Mahoney, ’09; Ryan Mahoney, ’09; Brenna Walsh, ’09; and Kyle Sander, ’10. Back row, l-r: Zack Vogel, ’08; Adam Lynch, ’08; Kevin Zola,’10; Shannon Piehler, ’09; Jaclyn Rossi, ’08, M.S.Ed.’10; Marisa Giambanco, ’08; Christiana (Curcio) Nagel, ’09; Jeffrey Sheridan, ’08; Courtney Donahue, ’08; Kristie (Miskey) Pellicore, ’09; and Stephanie (Gardina) Sander, ’09.

Over the course of her career, Krista Pike, ’65, has done just about everything you can do in nursing. And then some. For the past 14 years, she has brought her considerable expertise to countries around the world as a volunteer with Missionary Ventures International.

These mission trips have enabled her to fulfill her passion for serving others and her dedication to spreading the Word of God.

And it seems as if God has had a hand in her ventures.

Shortly after 9/11, a friend contacted her about a mission trip that she was going on to Guatemala. One of two doctors who had planned to accompany the group was suddenly unable to go, and she was looking for someone to take his place. Because Krista had the experience they were looking for, she asked her to consider going on the trip.

Krista had always wanted to volunteer with a missionary group, but she had just purchased a house and did not have the $1,007 the trip would cost. However, her friend suggested that she wait until she received her tax refund before making a final decision.

Her refund was $1,012. “God arranges things,” Krista says.

Since then, she has gone on nearly 20 trips, many times serving as a doctor for the indigenous people of the countries she visits, as well as providing them with vital healthcare information. But what’s most important to her, she says, is being able to share the Word of God with them through her nursing.

“We take God as He is to them, to villages where they fear God, we hug and pray with them and for them, and when we hear from them again two or three years later, their lives have changed because of learning the truth about God,” she says. “Our national Catholic nursing honor sorority is Beta Chi Nu, which stands for ‘Bring Christ through Nursing.’ Appropriate, eh?” she adds.

Krista’s nursing background comes from her studies in Niagara’s College of Nursing, where she “learned the heart of nursing,” as well as her post-graduation work, first at a Navy hospital in San Diego, Calif., then at a hospital in Las Vegas, where she worked as a medical-surgical nurse before being named head nurse in the psychiatric unit. She later returned to New York state and settled in rural Columbia County, where a local doctor she had known while she was in high school taught her to become what was essentially a nurse practitioner.

“There’s so many kinds of nursing and I’ve been so privileged to do them all,” she says.

Today, she is semi-retired and lives in Vermont, where she educates her community on health-related topics when she is not traveling to places like El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Peru.

She is also working with Missionary Ventures Canada to organize its first medical mission. She notes that she never consciously chooses her destination, instead letting God pick for her.

“God puts you in interesting places,” she says. “I’ve been on amazing trips and I’ve seen a lot. I love what I do, and I want nurses to know that if you let God lead you, you can bring God (to people) through nursing.”

Additional alumni stories are available at www.niagara.edu/alumni-news/.

Dr. Michael Ackerman, ’80, is back at Niagara. And he couldn’t be happier about it.

“It’s always had a place in my heart,” he says. “It’s a special place, and there’s something very special about being a Niagara nurse. You can’t describe it, but you know it. And that’s what I want to bring back.”

As associate director of the School of Nursing, Dr. Ackerman, a doctorally prepared nurse practitioner, will be able to do just that. He plans to draw on his own Niagara experience, his 30-plus year career in nursing, and his research and consulting background to lay a foundation for structure and process that will graduate students who are well-rounded, clinically relevant practitioners.

Growing up in a working class family in the City of Tonawanda, N.Y., Dr. Ackerman knew he wanted to pursue a career in the helping professions. While volunteering as a candy striper at DeGraff Memorial Hospital, he saw the day-to-day responsibilities of both nurses and physicians, and says he made a “deliberate choice” to become a nurse because he preferred the work they did.

At the recommendation of Mary Lorich, a family friend and former professor in NU’s College of Nursing, Dr. Ackerman enrolled at Niagara, where he found a nurturing faculty that “made it comfortable to be a male” in the nursing program. Classes in the liberal arts taught him to think, he says, and role models like Virginia Manning, his junior clinical instructor, prepared him to be excellent in his chosen field.

After graduation, Dr. Ackerman returned to DeGraff to begin his career in critical care nursing. He then joined the VA in Buffalo, where he spent 10 years in positions including nurse manager and clinical nurse specialist.

At the same time, he continued his education, earning his MSN in critical care nursing and his doctorate in nursing science from the University of Buffalo.

“I always had in mind that my terminal degree was going to be a doctorate,” he says. “I enjoyed science, and I enjoyed research.”

He also enjoyed teaching. He taught at NU while pursuing his MSN, and at UB once he had earned his DNS. All while continuing to work as a practicing nurse. “I had the best of both worlds,” he says.

In 1993, he was recruited to the University of Rochester to begin a joint faculty/clinical role. Two years later, he took a position as a senior nurse practitioner in critical care and cardiac surgery at Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester Medical Center. He completed post-master’s training as an acute care nurse practitioner at the University of Rochester that same year. In 2006, he launched the Margaret D. Sovie Center for Advanced Practice, which became a national organizational model for nurse practitioners and physicians’ assistants. For the next seven years, he served as the center’s director and continued his nursing practice.

Dr. Ackerman then returned to Buffalo, where he held several senior leadership roles with local hospitals.

In December 2014, after having spent several years presenting at conferences both nationally and internationally, Dr. Ackerman decided to take a “pause” from his nursing career to form his own consulting company. He also founded the “Stop the Silence in Healthcare” campaign, prompted by his experience as a Crucial Conversations trainer and his firsthand observations of situations where patients have been put at risk or nurses have been mistreated by their colleagues, and no one has spoken out. “It’s a topic I’m very passionate about,” he says.

Although he wasn’t looking for a new job opportunity, when the position of associate director of Niagara’s School of Nursing became available, he decided to pursue it because of his love for the program and his respect for Dr. Fran Crosby, ’67, the school’s director. He was offered the job in September.

“I’m at the point now where I want to give back and help others,” he says. “There’s no greater feeling than knowing that you can make a difference. As I progressed in my career, each job I’ve taken has expanded my ability to influence. (In this position,) I can influence the profession by graduating excellent students.”

Additional alumni stories are available at www.niagara.edu/alumni-news/.

Photos from alumni events during the fall and winter seasons.

Nearly 30 years after Norman Traino, ’90, received his acceptance letter from Niagara University, his daughter, Grace, received hers. Welcome to the NU family!

Ryan Virtue, '07

Hometown: Stittsville, Ontario, Canada
Degree: B.S. in sports management
Current job: Manager — affiliate associations, National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics
My best memory at Niagara is: meeting my beautiful and amazing wife! Also wearing the purple and white as a member of the baseball program.
My favorite hangout was: in the athletics offices at the Gallagher Center.
My favorite part of my job is: the people. I have the opportunity to work with some of the best and brightest people in the sports industry on a day-to-day basis.
When I’m not working, you’ll find me: spending time with my wife and two dogs, or on a baseball field somewhere.
I still want to learn how to: play one song on the guitar. It is an item on my bucket list!
I decided to become a chapter leader because: I love NU! Niagara has given me so much in my life, I want to give back so current and future students have a similar experience as I did.
Alumni should stay connected to Niagara by becoming involved in their local chapters because: it is a tremendous networking opportunity and a great way to give back to a school that has helped you become who you are today.

Katie (Konfron) Virtue, '07

Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
Degree: B.S. in marketing
Current job: Director of category management, Corporate United.
My best memory at Niagara is: receiving the Everett Okerman Award for marketing.
My favorite hangout was: Gallagher.
My favorite part of my job is: combining my critical thinking skills with my passion for business to make an impact at my organization and with those we work with.
When I’m not working you’ll find me: still at the rink.
I still want to learn how to: speak fluent Italian.
I decided to become a chapter leader because: Niagara has given me so much and I want to give that back as well as connect with other alumni.
Alumni should stay connected to Niagara by becoming involved in their local chapters because: they can help make an impact on current and future students, bond with others who love Niagara and benefited from attending, and meet new people in their local area.

Niagara University has a way of connecting Purple Eagles, even across time and distance. That’s exactly what happened to Justin McCarthy, ’94, originally from Staten Island, N.Y., and Rebecca Warmack, ’04, whose hometown is Idaho Springs, Colo. The two were introduced through eHarmony nearly a decade after Becca graduated from NU. It was a chance encounter, initiated when Justin, who had since relocated to Denver, saw Becca’s eHarmony profile picture and “reached out immediately.” As they got to know each other better, Becca asked Justin if he skied or snowboarded, and he told her he had learned while attending a small school near Buffalo, N.Y. When she found out it was Niagara, she thought he was joking.

The two began dating and were married on Oct. 24, 2015. Interestingly, several of the couples in attendance were fellow NU alumni who began dating after they left Monteagle Ridge.

Shirley (Federico) Hunt, ’65, and her son, David Hunt, ’00, competed in this year’s Buffalo Turkey Trot 8K, an annual race that began in 1896.

Several NU students enjoyed the hospitality of alumni during their recent trip to Philadelphia to see Pope Francis. Lindsay Pizzuto, ’07, and Matt Sheuer, ’07, and Eugene Johnson, ’80, and his wife, Denise, opened their homes to the students for a memorable weekend in September. Pictured, front row: Amber Thiel, Veronica Grande, Ashleigh Robertson, Andrea Nicolia, Ashley Serwon, ’11, ’13, Denise Johnson, and Lindsay Pizzutto, ’07. Middle row: MaKayla Olden, Sara Carlson, Rachel Bailey, Steven Gruhalla, Kelly Zaky, and Peter Raimondo. Back row: Matt Sheuer, ’07, Kelsey Mursuli, Nicholas Barile, and Gene Johnson, ’80.