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2021 Distinguished Alumnus Award
Congratulations to our 2021 Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient, Nadia Comaneci Winston (’05).
The Distinguished Alumnus Award recognizes Harding Academy graduates who have enhanced the reputation of Harding Academy through their professional and community leadership and their advancement of Harding Academy’s mission.
Our Distinguished Alumnus of the Year for 2021 began her journey at Harding Academy in the 7th grade. Before graduating in 2005, she was involved in A Cappella choir, the Shield yearbook staff, Spanish club, Bridge Builders, the Bible club, the Memphis challenge, AND she was a member of the volleyball team.
After Harding Academy, she gained her undergraduate from Rhodes College in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She went on to earn an M.S. in public health from Meharry Medical College and an M.S. in nursing from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has a Graduate Certificate of Health from Vanderbilt University and a Graduate Certificate in Health Policy from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She is currently pursuing a PhD in nursing through Rush University and expects to graduate this year. Her current research publications are focused on aging with HIV across the lifespan.
She is passionate about serving disadvantaged individuals through her work and community service efforts. Prior to working as a nurse practitioner, she worked as a registered nurse at the Walter Payton Liver Center serving kidney and liver transplant patients. Now, as a board-certified family nurse practitioner, she leads CAN Community Health in Arlington, TX. This clinic, the first of its kind in the state, provides HIV and primary care services to underserved populations. Through her practice as a nurse practitioner, she strives to serve her patients with the love, eyes, and heart of Christ.
Speaking about Harding Academy, she says, “Throughout college and in my career as a nurse practitioner, I can wholeheartedly say that I continue to integrate the critical thinking skills and principles of excellence, dedication, and integrity that I learned from Harding.”