The University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing is pleased to announce the inaugural recipients of the new Caesar O. Aldisert, MD, and Helen M. Aldisert, BSN, Nursing Scholarship.
The first group of recipients are:
- Nicole Anderson
- Ashley Bleiler
- Alexander Gool
- Payton Moore
- Pearl Park
- Madison Thompson
Caesar Aldisert graduated from the School of Medicine in 1943, and Helen Aldisert earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Helen and her daughter, Regina Aldisert, visited the school in 2018 to meet faculty and students, and learn more about the programs available at Pitt Nursing. Regina Aldisert is the wife of Terry Laughlin, vice chairman of Bank of America, who died unexpectedly just months after his term on the University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees ended in 2018.
“As Terry’s tenure as a Pitt trustee was coming to an end, he wanted to create one more scholarship, this time honoring my parents,” Regina Aldisert said. “As a trustee, Terry had learned of the strength of the School of Nursing, and its students, and when he suggested we create a scholarship there, rather than the medical school, it just felt right.”
Creating this scholarship, as well as previous scholarships in education and law/public service, let the family create a lasting legacy by supporting students who are pursuing careers that, Regina Aldisert explained, “enhance all of our lives.” Nursing in particular runs deep for the family, as their daughter Rena Kate, and Laughlin’s sister, Kate, are both nurse practitioners.
“My father would have been 100 in 2018 when this scholarship was created; he was ahead of his time in his respect for nurses as partners in patient care,” she said. “My mother trained as a nurse, and she often says, once a nurse, always a nurse, and caring for others infuses her spirit.”