Chayet Scholars Honored
Posted 12/16/2008
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For Marie Bruno, Biomedical Research Associate, being named a 2008 Chayet Scholarship recipient is helping her on a path to achieving a family milestone.
"I will be the first person in my family to finish college," Bruno told the crowd of recipients and guests gathered in the Rabkin Board Room.
The event was a family affair for another woman in the room. Eleanor Chayet, whose husband created the Chayet Scholarship in October 1983 in honor of the care his father received at BIDMC, marveled at the award's 25th anniversary. During the ceremony, she was presented with a plaque, marking her family's commitment to supporting the educational pursuits of BIDMC staff.
"This is very meaningful to me," Chayet said. "This is one of the highlights of my year. I look forward to receiving your letters and learning more about you."
The Chayet Scholarship is the only opportunity at BIDMC open to anyone who works at the medical center, according to Eric Buehrens, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Any employee seeking to advance their skills in a way that will improve care at the medical center is eligible to apply each fall. "We're a major employer and heath care is a major industry in Boston," Buehrens said. "This scholarship is a way to build better employees and provide better care."
Making the scholarship available to all staff is extremely important to Chayet, who is a retired nurse. "It's open to anyone because it takes everyone to make a medical center," Chayet said. "It's not just the nurses and doctors. This scholarship is good for the hospital because it means that everyone is appreciated and that everyone is important."
One by one, each of this year's 22 recipients stood and explained how the scholarship was enabling them to pursue a degree at a local college or university. Will Decaneas, a business operations administrator in research and academic affairs, is using funds from the scholarship to earn a master's degree in management from the Harvard University Extension School.
"During these economic times, making a commitment to school is difficult," Decaneas said. "Our mission at BIDMC is to care for patients and the Chayet Scholarship and BIDMC are also showing that they care for staff and their education. We're creating a community of care."
"This was an exciting year since we had over double as many applicants as we did last year and this year we were able to award 22 employees varying scholarship amounts up to $1,500," said Emily Beck, the program administrator in workforce development. "We look forward to many more enthusiastic and interested applicants who are looking to further their education and in turn give back to BIDMC."
Bruno will receive her associate's degree in June from Roxbury Community College, allowing her to enroll as a junior at UMASS-Boston in September. She hopes to eventually earn a bachelor's degree in nursing.
"As a nurse, I will touch people's lives like the Chayet Scholarship has touched mine when I needed support," Bruno said.
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