2022 Alumni Honorees
Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient Heading link
SUE PENCKOFER, PhD ’93, MS ’82, BSN ’79, FAAN, is professor emeritus and Loyola Faculty Scholar in the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing at Loyola University Chicago
Dr. Penckofer served as a faculty member at Loyola, mentoring undergraduate, masters’ and doctoral students, for 38 years. She was also an administrator and served as the associate dean for research and as the Distinguished Nurse Researcher in the School of Nursing. Most recently, she served as the associate dean for academics for the Graduate School of Loyola University.
Dr. Penckofer’s research focuses on improving mood, self-management and quality of life in persons with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and those at risk for diabetes.
Dr. Penckofer mentors students and faculty from various disciplines and has served as a research sponsor for diversity applicants. She has published over 60 papers and has served as the chair or member of over 30 dissertation committees.
Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award Recipients Heading link
SARAH H. AILEY, PhD ’02, MS ’98, BSN ’96, FAAN, CDDN, PHNA-BC, CNE is a professor in the Department of Community, Systems and Mental Health Nursing in the College of Nursing at Rush University.
Dr. Ailey’s research and scholarly practice are concentrated on improving the lives of people with disabilities, in particular intellectual disabilities, by translating research into practice within community and inpatient hospital settings.
She is the principal investigator for two federally funded programs. With a five- year grant from the Administration for Community Living, the five core partners of the PATH-PWIDD (Partnering with Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to Improve Health Outcomes) Program are building a National Cross-Sector Consortium to address the lack of content about individuals with ID/DD in current interprofessional health education curriculum.
Dr. Ailey has been on the Board of the Alliance for Disability in Healthcare Education since 2015 and is the immediate past president 2018-2022. Dr. Ailey is a member of the ADA Task Force and co-chairs the Adults with Intellectuals and Developmental Disabilities Committee at Rush University Medical Center.
OAAA: Lilian Ferrer, PhD, MS ’00, MSc, NM, FAAN Heading link
LILIAN FERRER LAGUNAS, PhD, MS ’00, MSc, NM, FAAN is a professor and vice president for international affairs at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
Dr. Ferrer Lagunas is a midwife nurse, and since 2020, she serves as vice president for international affairs at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC | Chile). Dr. Ferrer has led the foundation of this office at the university, focused on building a team to support the installation of a global culture that enables and empowers the UC | Chile community to find solutions for global problems along with international collaborators.
Her areas of research are internationalization, global health and community health with special emphasis on social movements around gender minorities and HIV/AIDS prevention.
In the School of Nursing, Dr. Ferrer has served as director for research, graduate studies, PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center, and international affairs since she returned to Chile in 2004.
Dr. Ferrer is a member of the American Academy of Nurses and the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society, organizations where she contributes in the Committees for Inclusion and Diversity and Fellowships.