Bayard, Schroeder Named Inaugural Recipients of the Elva Walker Spillane Philanthropic Leadership Award

^{Carolyn Iverson Schroeder and Jeannine Bayard}

Carolyn Iverson Schroeder, BSNE ‘55, and Jeannine Bayard, BSN ‘71, were named the inaugural recipients of the Elva Walker Spillane Philanthropic Leadership Award, which was created to recognize examples of a life committed to the betterment of others.

Named in honor and celebrating the spirit of the first chair of the School of Nursing Foundation Board of Trustees and conferred by the dean, the award will be bestowed to individuals whose leadership, service and philanthropy have transformed the School of Nursing.

In the early 1950s Schroeder enrolled at the University of Minnesota, where during her studies in nursing education she met a business and law student, the late Clinton A. Schroeder, ‘55. The two wed in 1953. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in nursing education, she became a staff nurse at what is now M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center, earning a stellar reputation as a clinician in surgical nursing and other care areas. “A degree from the University of Minnesota School of Nursing just opens the doors to hundreds of experiences with the best people, ideas and cutting-edge opportunities in the field,” she says. Schroeder has remained a lifelong advocate for health care and nursing, especially the health care of children.

Schroeder, while partnering with her husband to raise five bright and active children, was an engaged community leader, mission advocate and philanthropic visionary. She helped found and amplify numerous nonprofit missions, including what is now Children’s Minnesota. Elva Walker Spillane herself recruited Schroeder to be an early member of the School of Nursing Foundation Board of Trustees. While serving as a trustee, Schroeder led the fundraising initiative for the Katharine J. Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership, and she chaired the School of Nursing’s participation in the University’s system-wide fundraising campaign, Campaign Minnesota. As chair and a major donor of the school’s campaign, she motivated volunteers to surpass their fundraising goal in record time. In fact, thanks in part to Schroeder, the University was the first organization in Minnesota to raise $1 billion in gifts through a fundraising campaign.

“I am honored to receive this award because I have valued all of my experiences and the associations over the years that I have had with our donors and the friends of the School of Nursing, who have done so much to make our philanthropic success possible,” Schroeder says.

Bayard, a nursing visionary, co-developed Evercare, a revolutionary long-term care model with a nurse practitioner as the center of an integrated care team. All the while, she was giving back to her alma mater by serving multiple terms as the chair of the school’s Foundation Board of Trustees, a member of the Dean’s National Board of Visitors, and co-chair of the Empowering Health campaign, which raised $47 million for nursing education, research, faculty chairs and professorships. There was little question as to how Bayard wanted to improve nursing education by establishing a scholarship. “When visiting medical offices as a patient, I would meet medical and nursing assistants who are really interested in nursing careers,” Bayard says. “However, their experience with student debt can make this dream feel impossible. I wanted to help make their career pursuits possible through philanthropy, and I wanted to inspire other donors to do the same.”

Equally important, she aimed to help the school better reflect the diversity found in Minnesota, the nation and the world. “Thinking back on my years as a nursing student, most of the students and faculty looked like me — white, cisgender females — and we came from similar backgrounds,” Bayard says. “For this reason, I never considered a general scholarship because I know how important it is for patients and colleagues to see nurses who look like them and share their cultural experiences.”

In 2018, Bayard established The School of Nursing Endowed Scholarship for Inclusivity. It is the school's first-ever full scholarship for students who enhance the diversity of the student body, as defined by the University. The scholarship is designed to support a student in all four of the school’s degree programs, sequentially. It will benefit students in perpetuity, with the award amount increasing over time.

“Everyone who knows me, knows that I am a University of Minnesota nurse,” Bayard says. “I am honored to receive this award and, more importantly, to have been given the opportunity to pave the way for the school’s future generations.”

School of Nursing Foundation Board of Trustees

Matthew Baehr
UTHealth San Antonio

Jane Bagley
St. Cloud State University

Kelsey Derrick
St. Croix Hospice

Mark Ebeling
M Health Fairview
U.S. Army, Retired

Allysia Jenkins
Treasurer/Secretary
Humana

Cynthia Jurgensen
UnitedHealth Group, Retired

Adam Karlen
M Health Fairview

Meri Beth Kennedy
Planned Parenthood North Central States, Retired

Kelly Landsman
Landsman Engineering LLC

Lisa Martin
University of Minnesota School of Nursing

Christine Mueller
Faculty Representative
University of Minnesota School of Nursing

Marjorie Page
Chair
M Health Fairview, Retired

David Piper
State of Minnesota, Retired

Ben Ranstrom
CentraCare and North Memorial

David Rothenberger
University of Minnesota Medical School

Sharyn Salmen
Salmen Consulting, Retired

Naomi Thomas
Minneapolis College

Nancy DeZellar Walsh
Past Chair
DeZellar Walsh Consulting LLC

Ex-Officio Members (with voting privileges)

Connie White Delaney
Professor and Dean
University of Minnesota School of Nursing

Andrew McIlree
Director of Development & Alumni Relations
University of Minnesota School of Nursing

Savannah Zins
Alumni Society Board Representative
Mayo Clinic