Barbara Unell, author and social entrepreneur, will receive the Honorary Nursing Alumna award from the KU Nurses Alumni Association on Friday, Oct. 2.
The Honorary Nursing Alumna award is presented annually to non-graduates of KU Medical Center who have made a significant impact through their professional or personal contributions. The award recognizes an individual’s contributions in his or her field, to KU Medical Center and to health care. Special consideration is given to those having national or global impact. Selections are made by the KU Nurses Alumni Awards committee.
Unell might not be a nurse, but she has brought to her diverse career the same holistic approach to promoting health that nursing embodies.
A 1973 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and psychology, Unell has written 18 books. Her works have sold more than a million copies and been translated into 27 languages. She also co-founded the first national magazine for parents of multiples, “TWINS.”
Unell, who grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, has also created a number of programs and initiatives promoting healthy living:
“Kindness is Contagious...Catch It!” — a program that teaches kindness, respect and compassion to children throughout the Kansas City area.
“Uncle Dan’s Report Card” — a program that helps build personal responsibility, positive relationships and learning readiness of children.
“Back in the Swing USA” — a program to improve and protect people’s health and well-being after breast cancer. It launched first at The University of Kansas Cancer Center and has since been implemented throughout the country
Raised with Love and Limits Foundation — a program to prevent toxic stress in children’s lives and improve their health and learning. The Foundation’s flagship initiative is Behavior Checker, an online tool that gives providers strategies they can share with parents to address over 150 common childhood behaviors.
Ribbons of Pink Foundation — an initiative at the KU School of Nursing to provide specialized clinical training opportunities for advanced practice nurses in cancer survivorship and continuing cancer care.
For her nursing-inspired work promoting health in Kansas City and beyond, the KU Nurses Alumni Association takes great pride in celebrating Barbara Unell during the virtual awards ceremony on Oct. 2.
For Unell’s full biography and a list of 2020 Alumni Award recipients, go to www.kumc.edu/alumni/alumni-awards-program/2020-alumni-award-recipients.html.