Distinguished Alumna of the Year Award
Dr. Joan Gygax Spicer, Nurs ’74, Grad ’76
Belmont, Calif.
In a notable career spanning five and a half decades, Dr. Joan Spicer has served as a nurse leader in health care operations and education, shaping nursing practice in her local community and in countries including China and Indonesia. She carried Marquette values with her. “Marquette instilled in me the belief that leadership is not only about technical expertise,” she says, “but also about moral courage, resilience and service to others.”
Her most recent role was as chief nursing officer for San Matteo Medical Center, part of that county’s safety-net health care system. The COVID-19 pandemic forced her to draw on her deep leadership experience in the face of fear and helplessness. “Success, in that moment, was not about individual achievement,” she explains. “It was about building a supportive learning community where nurses could ‘lean in’ to learn together, adapt quickly and continue advocating for patients during the darkest times.”
Joan has worked with nurses in five countries, including five grant-funded years with the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China, where she helped extend its strategic plan to strengthen nursing practice. The ministry also translated a book she co-edited with fellow Marquette alumna Ellen Lewis, Nurs ’73, Grad ’78.
Writing and publishing about nursing has always been central to Joan’s career; this was inspired by Dr. Judith Fitzgerald Miller, professor of nursing, who urged nurses in practice settings to publish about their experiences. Joan’s extensive list of publications was an effort to ensure “that the voices of nurses working in practice settings were heard,” she says.
What advice or insights from your own experiences would you share with fellow Marquette alumni or current students?
When nurses leave home for work, they need a clear mind to make sound decisions and an open heart to ensure those decisions are rooted in empathy.
Name someone (past or present) with whom you'd like to have dinner.
I would like to have dinner with Hillary Clinton. I admire her leadership on health care reform and her advocacy for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and related legislation. Her commitment to expanding access to care for vulnerable populations resonates deeply with my own work in nursing leadership and health care operations. A conversation with her would be an opportunity to reflect on the intersection of policy, practice and advocacy in shaping healthier communities.
