School of Nursing Alumni Awards
Each year, the School of Nursing presents these awards to alumni who have made outstanding contributions to the field of nursing:
• The School of Nursing Distinguished Alumnus Award
• The School of Nursing Hall of Fame Award
• The Betty Lee Evans Excellence in Nursing Award
2019 Distinguished Alumnus
Ernestine "Tina" Cuellar, PhD, APRN, PMHCNS-BC
Class of 2006
Dr. Cuellar has practiced nursing in Virginia, Florida and Texas. She worked in several nursing specialty areas including medical, obstetrics and mental health. After receiving her master's degree she was commissioned a Captain in the United States Airforce Reserves Nurse Corps and served in Germany, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Dr. Cuellar was later promoted to the rank of Lt. Colonel and served as a mental health subject matter expert for the Air Force Reserves. She obtained her doctorate degree in nursing from UTMB in 2006 and was a faculty member with the School of Nursing and later served as an Associate Dean before retiring in 2013. Today, Dr. Cuellar serves as Director of Elsevier HESI Live Review.
2019 School of Nursing Alumni Association Awardees
Front row, from left, Dr. Lynn Rae Sengbush Herr (Hall of Fame), Dr. Tina Cuellar (Distinguished Alumnus), Dr. Carolyn Nelson-Becker (Hall of Fame), and Lauryn Kainer (Student Leadership Awardee). Back row, from left, Jacquelyn Svoboda (Betty Lee Evans Nursing Excellence Awardee), Janet Collerain Gilmore (Hall of Fame) and Jennifer Higgs (Betty Lee Evans Nursing Excellence Awardee).