Alumni Outcomes

Jane Grand-Allen ’91 Jane Grande-Allen ’91, who graduated from Transylvania with majors in biology and mathematics, began studying heart valves when she started her Ph.D. research at the University of Washington in Seattle. At the time, the majority of the research being done was focused on improving replacement heart valves instead of the disease itself and possible treatments or cures. “That kind of stifled study into what causes valve disease because the (replacement valve) surgeons are excellent, and the replacements are awfully good,” Grande-Allen said. “So they weren’t really asking, ‘How can we prevent this disease in the first place?’” But Grande-Allen did ask that question. Even though replacement heart valves have become so effective, the surgery is still invasive—although work is being done to begin widely implanting them in a non surgical manner with a stent—and finding treatments for valve diseases remains an appealing goal. That’s why she has spent all this time on just that problem. “We’re trying to improve the range of options for treating people with heart valve disease,” she said. “Some of my work is targeted to helping find new medications so people could just take some pills instead of having to have surgery.” She credits her Transylvania professors for steering her in this direction, like former mathematics professor David Shannon. “He was my mentor when I was at Transylvania, and he really impressed upon me that I should continue doing something that had a

Read “The Heart of the Matter”

Shericka Smith ’05 As a young teen, Shericka Smith ’05 watched her mother at work as the director of the Salvation Army’s homeless shelter. She absorbed the many gestures of kindness and the trauma of families being separated. “Since then,” she says, “I’ve had this passion for helping families and helping kids, and helping parents stay on track so they can do what’s best for their kids.” Smith excelled as a student at Tates Creek High School and followed her sister, Shawnetta, to Transylvania, where she was able to thrive, she says, and “prove that no matter where you come from you can succeed.” In 2014, she returned to her alma mater, Tates Creek High, where she was named Kentucky’s 2016 School Social Worker of the Year. “I’ve been blessed by having opportunities,” she says. “I just felt it made sense to come back and help the same folks in the same neighborhood I grew up in and left to make a better life.” Every day is different for Smith, because, as she explains, students who experience trauma manifest it in ways that can’t be anticipated. “For the kids who act out, once we dig deeper and find out it’s because of a traumatic event, then we can work with them.” And listen. I just felt it made sense to come back and help the same folks in the same neighborhood I grew up in and left to make a

Read “Full Circle”

Kathryn Perry ’10 The Rev. Kathryn Perry ’10 steers head-on into what most of us shove aside until left without any choice: death—and prioritizing what is important during the transition from life to deaeth. As a palliative care chaplain at the University of Kentucky’s Chandler Hospital, her days straddle this life and the next for families of every background and belief. Perry’s work requires putting the self aside to enter a sacred and exceedingly difficult place, listening carefully to the needs of the most vulnerable and being supportive of her peers on the palliative care team. Together they tend “the sickest of the sick” from around the state, meeting them at any point in an illness. “Pain is physical, emotional and spiritual,” she explains, which is why the palliative care team is interdisciplinary. Much of her work is about helping people with anxiety and providing emotional support. “The listening component is one of the most beautiful things about what I get to do every day,” she says. “I invite people to tell me about their lives or what’s important to them, what they value.” More often than not, it isn’t a party affiliation or a particular argument that rises to the top—“it is spending time with the people they love, it is going fishing or watching television and eating ice cream—those very simple, seemingly ordinary pieces of life that really make us who we are.” These end-of-life lessons are ripe

Read “Compassion in Palliative Care”

Kelly Kreutzjans ’16 Recruiters from Deloitte, a “Big Four” accounting firm, first noticed Kelly Kreutzjans’ ability to socialize and connect with people at an industry networking event. They liked her résumé, too. It demonstrated her ability to multitask—playing soccer and taking on big offices in her sorority while making good grades. The complete package Social skills Broad knowledge Time management skills Academic excellence Kelly Kreutzjans ’16 offered her future employer the complete package: a broad liberal arts background that gave her confidence and the ability to engage people on different subjects, evidence of good time management and excellence in the field of accounting. She’d already interned with a CPA company in Lexington. “Our teachers know us. They always make themselves available for us. Anytime you need something, there’s someone you can talk to—or they’ll find it for you.”If you’re new to the workforce, “soft” skills top the list of essential traits that employers seek. It’s these skills (being well rounded and socially adept), along with academic achievement, that set Pioneers apart. Kreutzjans says that Transy helped her in ways she didn’t expect. “It built my confidence,” she explains. “The teachers in the accounting department were great.” They encouraged her to attend industry events and were available to her whenever she needed help. “And the liberal arts made us really well rounded,” she explains. “I can talk to people about things that aren’t just accounting or business because I’ve taken music,

Read “The Complete Package”