Mary Masters has been a fighter from the time she was a young girl. In fact, she says she was so "ornery" in elementary school that a teacher told Mary's parents that their little daughter was too tough on the boys.
But her high energy level turned into a plus when Mary became a nurse and patient advocate. It all started in 1955 when she enrolled in the first class of the Barnes Hospital School of Nursing, a predecessor of Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College. It was a choice that resulted in a long pioneering career in hospitals across the country.
"It changed everything," she says about her education. "I've had a good life because of the foundation I received from Barnes," says Mary, who received Goldfarb's 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award.
Mary's career began at Barnes Hospital, which later became Barnes-Jewish Hospital, where she rose to head nurse of a general surgery division. Her adventure continued at other institutions including Scripps Memorial Hospital in San Diego and University Hospitals of Cleveland. At the latter, she helped set up the kidney transplant team and organ transportation system. She also worked at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System in Little Rock, where she established the hospital's first outpatient surgery program.
Hoping to provide opportunities to other nursing students, she has made a gift in her trust through The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital to support Goldfarb scholarships.
"Give what you can," she says to potential donors. "You're giving a future, not just to one person, but to the entire medical field."