Legendary Golf Pro Kathy Whitworth will receive the 2012 Partnership Award July 8 from the School of Nursing at Edgewood College. Sherri Steinhauer, a Wisconsin native and fabled women's golf pro, and Andy North, two-time US Open champ, will present the award.
Whitworth and Steinhauer share Texas roots. Steinhauer attended the University of Texas at Austin, and Whitworth was born in Texas and lives there today. Nakoma Country Club in Madison, Wis., the home course of Steinhauer and North, has sponsored a fundraising golf tourney for the School of Nursing at Edgewood College, called Tee Up for Nursing, since 2004. This year the event will take place July 9 and will include tips on the course from Whitworth and a clinic from her at 11 a.m. It will be Whitworth's last event in Madison.
The Partnership Award, given by the College's nursing faculty, was created in 2006 to honor faculty, staff and friends who demonstrate extensive commitment to working with our community partners for the benefit of nursing education.
Whitworth will be honored because she used her fame and skills to build the success of the golf outing, which has raised more than $500,000 for nursing scholarships.
Since the golf outing began, Edgewood College has more than doubled its nursing enrollment to about 250 students and started Wisconsin's only accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. The scholarships from the Tee Up event have helped tens of Edgewood College nurses enhance their educations in the College's effort to stem the coming nursing shortage predicted to hobble care for the baby boom generation in its elder years.
Edgewood College, a 2,600-student liberal arts college and graduate school, on Madison's West Side, is rooted in the Dominican tradition, engages students within a community of learners committed to building a just and compassionate world. The College educates students for meaningful personal and professional lives of ethical leadership, service, and a lifelong search for truth.
It offers a robust curriculum of graduate programs for working adults, including many Wisconsin nurses.