PARTNERS hosts record-breaking Spring Luncheon
Event raises $227,000+ for nursing scholarships and research
The generous supporters of Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston engage in the ancient legacy of helping organize care for the most vulnerable people, journalist and author Sarah DiGregorio said at the 2025 PARTNERS Spring Luncheon on March 20.
Established in 1993, PARTNERS (Providing Advancement Resources To Nursing Education, Research, and Students) raises funds for nursing scholarships and faculty research at Cizik School of Nursing. This year’s event broke another fundraising record, adding over $227,000 to the more than $16 million the organization has contributed over the years. More than 240 people attended the luncheon at River Oaks Country Club.
Serving as chairs for the 2025 Spring Luncheon were Sally and Joe Bridges along with their daughters and sons-in-law, Beth and Drew Cozby and Jennifer and Todd Darwin. A dedicated supporter of the university and alumnus of the McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics, Dr. Bridges serves on the UTHealth Houston Development Board and the Cizik School of Nursing Advisory Council. Mrs. Cozby also serves on the UTHealth Houston Development Board.
The luncheon honored Professor Nancy Bergstrom, PhD, RN, FAAN, who retired from Cizik School of Nursing in 2015 after serving as director of the Center on Aging, associate dean for research, and the Theodore J. and Mary E. Trumble Professor in Aging Research. She was inducted into the Sigma Tau International Honor Society’s International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame in 2010 in recognition of her work with Barbara Braden, PhD, on the Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Ulcers (© B. Braden & N. Bergstrom, 1988).
“When I first met patients, I fell in love with the profession of nursing,” Bergstrom said. “When I took my first research course, I learned it’s OK to ask why, why not, and what if, and I fell in love with nursing research.”
Bergstrom discussed highlights of her five-decade career and described how her philanthropy started small and grew to include the 2021 endowment of the Nancy Bergstrom Gerontological Nursing Scholarship at Cizik School of Nursing.
DiGregorio, who delivered the keynote address, wrote the books Early: An Intimate History of Premature Birth and What It Teaches Us About Being Human and Taking Care: The Story of Nursing and its Power to Change Our World. She was inspired by nurses who cared for her chronically ill parents and premature daughter.
“Nurses are working at the nexus of biology and human relationships,” she said. “What a difference it makes when someone is there to see you and hear you and understand what you are going through.”
In addition to discussing her own experiences as she navigated the health care system, DiGregorio shared stories of nurses she interviewed through the years and traced the profession’s history from prehistoric archeological digs to modern times. She cited among her favorite nurses Lillian Wald, who pioneered public health nursing and school nursing in the late 19th century and whose work was quietly supported by banker and philanthropist Jacob Schiff.
“Cizik School of Nursing could not do what it does without you,” DiGregorio said. “When you educate a nurse, you aren’t just educating one nurse. You are taking an exponential step for your community, your city, and your country.”
DiGregorio and Bergstrom were introduced by Cizik School of Nursing Dean Diane Santa Maria, DrPH, MSN, ACRN, PHNA-BC, FAAN, who thanked PARTNERS for their decades of support and highlighted recent accomplishments at the school, including the creation of the Cizik Nursing Research Institute, the new Pre-Nursing Pathway, and the Doctor of Nursing Practice to PhD option.
Houston Public Media’s Ernie Manouse continued his years-long tradition of serving as master of ceremonies for the luncheon, and Pastor Eric Huffman of The Story Church delivered the invocation for the luncheon.
