Nursing Dean & Professor Win Statewide Honor for Excellence in Education

Dr. Kathleen Wisser, Dr. Katelyn Quarry Receive Award from the Maryland Higher Education Commission
School of Nursing circle logo with headshots of Kathy Wisser and Katelyn Quarry


BALTIMORE – Notre Dame of Maryland University’s School of Nursing dean and a faculty member received the Dr. Peg E. Daw Nurse Faculty Annual Recognition Award for their extraordinary achievements in nursing education.

Dr. Kathleen Wisser and Dr. Katelyn Quarry are among a select group of nursing faculty in the state to receive the distinction from the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC). Award recipients were honored for demonstrating excellence as a nurse educator in five categories, including excellence in teaching, impact on students, engagement, innovation in education and technology, and contributions to nursing education.


Dr. Wisser has served as dean of NDMU’s School of Nursing since 2015, having more than 15 years of service in academia and 25 years of clinical nursing experience in a variety of healthcare settings. Her higher education experience includes leadership and teaching, program and curricula development, assessment of student learning, program evaluation, grant administration, and institutional effectiveness. In her clinical work, she held leadership positions in quality improvement and community-based behavioral health organizations.

Dr. Quarry joined the School of Nursing faculty as an assistant professor in 2021. She has taught entry-level undergraduate nursing students, specializing in classroom instruction, clinical practicum coordination, assessment, and evaluation. She has taught multiple entry-level tracks, including traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), accelerated BSN, hybrid accelerated BSN, Registered Nurse (RN) to BSN, and Master of Science in Nursing (MSN). In 2024, she become director of entry-level programs. She has continued her clinical practice as a critical care nurse since 2020.

The Maryland Higher Education Commission’s Nurse Faculty Annual Recognition Awards receive support through funding provided by Maryland’s Nurse Support Program II, an initiative to expand the capacity to educate nurses through increasing faculty and enhancing nursing education programs at state institutions.


Established in 1895, Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) is a private, Catholic institution in Baltimore, Maryland, with the mission to educate leaders to transform the world. Notre Dame has been named one of the best "Regional Universities North" by U.S. News & World Report.

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