Triumphs out of Tragedies
An endowed scholarship that supports nontraditional Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden students was created in memory of Lauren Rose Albert, a mother of three. This year’s recipient—a young mother who suffered the loss of her husband—is committed to honoring his memory by supporting mental health for veterans.
Long before their paths crossed through a scholarship at Rutgers, two women who experienced separate tragedies found a way to turn grief into action.
For Susan Rose, tragedy came in a telephone call on February 18, 1999, when she received news that every parent dreads. The eldest of her four daughters, Lauren Rose Albert, a recently retired healthcare industry executive, died when a car she was riding in careened down a hillside in Morocco. The 40-year-old mother of three had been vacationing with her husband and friends at the time of the accident.
Devastated, Rose channeled her grief into action. With the support of family, friends, and a former political rival, she founded the Lauren Rose Albert Foundation (LRAF) in 2000 with a mission to help women in need and, in particular, areas of critical unmet need where the Foundation’s resources would make a real difference. “It’s what Lauren would have wanted,” Rose says.
Since its inception, the Lauren Rose Albert Foundation Education and its financial assistance grants for head-of-household women and signature Mothers Matter program have served thousands of women and families throughout southern New Jersey and Philadelphia.
In 2023, a generous gift from the Lauren Rose Albert Foundation created an endowed scholarship at the Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden to support nontraditional students who have overcome obstacles and are passionate about a career in healthcare and giving back to the community.
"The generosity of the Lauren Rose Albert Foundation honors the legacy of giving back and lifting up others, values that align deeply with our mission to prepare nurses who lead with heart, skill, and social conscience,” says Donna M. Nickitas, dean of the Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden. “It embodies the spirit of compassion, resilience, and service that defines our Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden community. Each recipient becomes part of that living legacy, carrying forward the foundation’s example through their own nursing practice and community service.”
Nickitas says the scholarship has a myriad of positive effects.
“For our students—many of whom balance rigorous academic demands with family, work, and community responsibilities—this support is life changing,” Nickitas says. “The scholarship not only eases financial pressure but also affirms their purpose and strengthens their commitment to caring for others.”
Scholarship Gratitude
Neselle Nardo, who enrolled in the Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden’s accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in January, is this year’s recipient of the scholarship. She wasn’t called to nursing at first. She grew up in Ocean County, New Jersey, and graduated with a degree in health science from Stockton University in 2019. While many of her family members were nurses, Nardo says she was more interested in becoming a neurosurgeon. In 2021, Nardo was five months pregnant and navigating the COVID-19 pandemic when her husband, George Daly IV, a United States Marine Corps veteran who had served in Afghanistan and suffered from PTSD, took his own life. His death, she says, rerouted her life.
“My end goal now is to become a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and to work with military and veterans specifically,” says Nardo, whose daughter is now 3 years old. “On my admission essay, I wrote about my story, and my final sentence was, ‘Obtaining a Rutgers education will help me help them.’”
Nardo gets up at 4 a.m. most mornings to take care of her daughter, Jaylene, before commuting for more than an hour to classes in Camden, which start as early as 8 a.m. She also works at an optometrist’s office.
“I have a mortgage and bills to pay,” she says. “Being that I have only the support of my family and my husband’s platoon, I juggle working, while staying on top of my studies, all while being the best mom that I can be for my daughter. It’s important for me to continue to honor my husband’s legacy and sacrifices by not only being an example of resiliency for her, but also to serve others just as he did for our country.”
Nardo, the second School of Nursing–Camden student to be awarded the Lauren Rose Albert Endowed Scholarship, is on track to graduate with her bachelor’s degree in nursing next year. She looks forward to earning her degree and beginning her mission to becoming a psychiatric nurse helping veterans.
She says she is “very grateful and blessed” and was surprised by the scholarship. “Of all the people, it was little old me,” she says.
For Dina Ghalee, who was the Lauren Rose Albert Foundation’s first recipient and a 2025 accelerated nursing program graduate, the scholarship was transformational. “As a first-generation college student from a single-parent household, there were times when pursing a degree seemed impossible, but the scholarship kept me going,” says Ghalee, who graduated in the spring and is now a nurse at Cooper University Health Care. “It not only impacted my life but changed my future as well.”
Rose says the partnership with Rutgers is fulfilling its goal. “Making a difference in the lives of Dina Ghalee and Neselle Nardo is Lauren’s legacy,” Rose says. “Lauren’s compassion and advocacy for those in need will continue to inspire others and the endowment established in her memory will continue to make dreams come true for our nurses of tomorrow.”
She added that Rutgers and the foundation named for her daughter share many connections. “The Lauren Rose Albert Foundation is honored to support Rutgers University,” Rose says. “In addition to numerous partnerships with social service agencies, childcare facilities, and Cooper Hospital within the Camden community, LRAF connections include five Rutgers alumni and one student.”
Those Rutgers alumni and the student are as follows: CPA and LRAF Board Treasurer Michael Carmody CCAS’79; family members Amy Rose Rivas CCAS’90, Jake Tennenbaum RBS’19, Meghna Shanker Tennenbaum SAS’20, Landen Tennenbaum CCAS’23, and current Rutgers–Camden junior Lily Rivas.
For more information about the Lauren Rose Albert Foundation, please visit www.laurenslegacy.org
Veterans in need of support can connect with Vets4Warriors, a program at Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care that offers around-the-clock support to veterans. The toll-free number for veterans to call for confidential peer support is 855-838-8255; the organization’s website can be found at vets4warriors.com.
Support Students
Please consider making a gift to support the Rutgers University–Camden School of Nursing Scholarship Fund.
