Kathryn Ganske, ph.d.
Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing Dean
How long have you been at Shenandoah, and when did you become dean of the nursing school? How has the university, and nursing education, changed since then?
I began my career at Shenandoah in 1994, so I will have been here for 22 years. I became director of the division of nursing in 2007 and in October of 2012, the division became a school of nursing and I became dean. The nursing program has grown and changed from its roots as an associate degree program to one that now offers three degrees: Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), with many pathways to get those degrees. Nursing education has changed over the years so that now more and more employers are requiring the BSN as an entry-level degree due to the level of care required for very ill patients. Nurse practitioner education at Shenandoah began in the late 1990s with the MSN, and in 2008 we launched the DNP, a practice doctorate for advanced practice nurses (nurse practitioners). This fall 2016, the School of Nursing will launch the DNP in Health System Leadership to provide high-level education for executive nurse leaders. Throughout the years, I have seen the university grow in numbers of students, faculty and programs to be a regional center for quality private education. Our nursing graduates are known throughout the state and region as excellent, whether they are BSN, MSN or DNP grads. I’m proud to be a colleague with our excellent faculty and know that we are sending graduates into acute and primary care roles.
What is your fondest memory of Shenandoah?
Working closely with students in academic and extracurricular activities. Teaching is the reason I began working at Shenandoah, and I love the students.
What will you miss about the university?
The energy created with colleagues from around the university. We have some really fine people working here and serving as trustees.
What are your future plans?
Sharing more time with family, traveling, enjoying our cottage “up north,” resurrecting activities such as painting and hiking and serving the communities in which I live.
William McConnell “Mac” Bozman, M.F.A.
Harold Herman Endowed Chair in Musical Theatre, Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre Manager and Scenic & Lighting Designer and Professor of Theatre
When did you join the conservatory? How has it changed over the years?
I joined the Conservatory in the summer of 1975. We have grown in students, faculty, resources, our national and international reputations, and I do not regret that, but progress sometimes comes with a price. Up into the mid-80s, the end-of-the-semester Jazz Ensemble concert on Saturday night was also the Winter or Spring Formal. The dorms emptied as all the students came to the concert at 8 p.m., with some guys and girls already in their formal clothes, and some of the girls in curlers with scarves to cover them. Everyone knew everyone else — musicians went to the dance with nursing students. The blizzard of Feb. 1982, which eventually dropped over 30 inches of snow, started on opening night of “Brigadoon.” The design tech faculty and the music director/conductor made it in and slept in offices so we could continue to do all the performances. We have lost some of that.
What is your fondest memory of Shenandoah?
I have a host of fond memories; it’s very difficult to identify a single one. Perhaps Hal Herman’s retirement celebration, because he spoke so wonderfully about the students he had taught, and how it did not matter if they were no longer active in theatre, but that they were happy and working to make a better world.
What will you miss about the university?
I will miss the energy of the students. The wonderful moments when a teacher sees a student “get it” — the light bulb turns on in their minds, their eyes.
What are your future plans?
My future plans are travel, genealogy, volunteer work and to enjoy life.
Robert Shafer, m.m.
Artist-in-Residence and Professor of Choral Conducting
When did you join the conservatory? How has it changed over the years?
I came in August of 1983. It was then called Shenandoah College and Conservatory of Music. The campus was half the size it is now. Since then, the conservatory has increased students and programs, and Shenandoah is now a university.
What is your fondest memory of Shenandoah?
Without question, my fondest memories are the incredible experiences I have had with my students. In 33 years, I have had 33 wonderful choirs. We made 15 concert tours of Europe, won a Grammy Award and performed many times at the Kennedy Center and Strathmore.
What will you miss about the university?
Words cannot express how much I will miss working with the students. Our choirs have proven that vocal ensembles on this level can achieve the most professional standards, and we have done it time and time again.
What are your future plans?
My future plans are to spend more time with my wife, my son and his wife and our three grandchildren. Professionally, I will continue to direct the City Choir of Washington and spend much more time composing, going to concerts and reading.
Thomas Albert, d.m.a.
Charles B. Levitin Chair in Music Theatre and Professor of Composition and Musical Theatre
When did you join the conservatory? How has it changed over the years?
I joined the faculty in Aug. 1974. In 1974 there were no graduate programs: we offered the Bachelor of Music in performance, music education, music therapy, church music, composition and music theatre. The only buildings were Armstrong, Gregory, Shingleton (the gym and three classrooms where the student center now sits), Wilkins and the residence halls (Parker, Racey, Cooley, Funkhouser). Shenandoah Conservatory of Music had about 400 students; Shenandoah College had about 150 students, and it was the year that the college began offering four-year degrees.
What is your fondest memory of Shenandoah?
It’s impossible to recall one memory as better than all others; after 42 years, there are hundreds of them. Here are a few: the first performance of my opera, “Lizbeth,” directed by Harold Herman, with a libretto by Lindé Hayen Herman; conducting George Crumb’s “Ancient Voices of Children” as part of a new music festival; the first performance of Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre (the musical “Shenandoah”); the opening performance of Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre with a gala performance of “The Wizard of Oz”; music directing some of my favorite musicals, including “Sweeney Todd,” “Assassins,” “Ragtime,” “Sunday in the Park with George,” “The Secret Garden”; and the first non-professional performance of “American Idiot.”
What will you miss about the university?
The people. My colleagues on the faculty and the students.
What are your future plans? Will you continue to be artistic director for Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre?
I’ll continue as producing artistic director of Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre, and will still music-direct at least one production each summer.
juliana fehr, ph.d., cnm, facnm
Professor and Director of Nurse-Midwifery
When did you begin teaching at Shenandoah, and how has the university, and nursing education, changed since then?
I began teaching here in 1996. Shenandoah is more technologically developed, with larger health professions programs and more integration with the community and other universities.
What is your fondest memory of Shenandoah?
All of the people that encouraged me throughout the 20 years of developing and running the midwifery program.
What will you miss most about the university?
My university friends.
What are your future plans?
I prefer to call retiring “rebooting.” I will consult, teach, travel and promote women’s health and midwifery throughout the nation and the world.