Columbia State Community College has established a new nursing scholarship named for alumna and retired adjunct instructor Judy M. Sanders.

Lifelong Maury County resident Sanders watched Lady Bird Johnson, joined by President Lyndon B. Johnson, dedicate Columbia State as the first community college in Tennessee. While raising her children, Judy attended Columbia State in 1975 as a nontraditional student. After earning her Associate of Science and Associate of Applied Science in nursing from Columbia State, her professional studies took her to Middle Tennessee State University for her Bachelor of Science in psychology and then nursing. Her Master of Science in nursing came from University of Alabama, Huntsville, leading to certification as a nurse practitioner. Sanders’s work experience includes nursing and leadership roles in Baptist, Maury Regional and Vanderbilt medical centers. She has also cared for fellow Maury citizens through her work at the county health department.

Sanders then returned to Columbia State in 2004 to teach “Fundamentals in Nursing” until a cancer diagnosis caused her to retire in 2009. Her strong will, however, brought her back to Columbia State once again in 2011 to become an adjunct instructor in mental health nursing. 

With this scholarship, Sanders hopes students like her that are pursuing nursing at her alma mater will benefit from support and be encouraged to complete to graduation.

“We are delighted to have the endowed Judy M. Sanders Nursing Scholarship. Ms. Judy has been involved for so many years and in so many ways with Columbia State that it would be hard to choose one to talk about,” said Bethany Lay, Columbia State vice president for Advancement and executive director of the Columbia State Foundation. “In simplest terms, she has a heart for this college and the community.”  

For more information about the nursing program, please visit www.ColumbiaState.edu/academics/nursing.

To donate to the Judy M. Sanders Nursing Scholarship Endowment, go to columbiastate.edu and click donate or call 931-540-2512.