Alumni Spotlight: Vernice D. Ferguson

Class of 1977

Degree:

Honorary Doctor of Science

Vernice D. Ferguson was a prominent figure in America’s medical history. She began her career as a nurse, quickly making a name for herself in her profession as a champion of racial and gender equality in her profession. She eventually became the nursing department head at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. She served as a medical executive for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and held teaching appointments at many universities in the area, including Georgetown University, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Marymount. She retired from nursing in 1992. 

Vernice received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Marymount in 1977. She received numerous awards and honors throughout her career, recognized in the United States and the United Kingdom for her work in racial equality in the medical field. Although Vernice passed away in 2012 at the age of 84, her legacy lives on in the change and progress she inspired.