The Bonds of Family and Country

We recently heard from US Army Colonel Laura Thomas ’95 for two special reasons: one personal and one professional (and like most things, they were both connected). First, this fall she promoted her son, Nathaniel Thomas ’20, to Captain on the steps of the US Capitol. Both mother and son are UP Army ROTC alums. Nathaniel graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering and is stationed in Camp Zama, Japan. Based in Colorado, Laura earned a nursing degree from UP and has gone on to decades of service and leadership. The day of Nathaniel’s promotion was a day that represented so much hard work, love, and pride.

Laura also recently received a historic professional appointment, one that will have a lasting impact on the field of nurse leaders and health care in the Army on a national level. She is the first Army National Guard Nurse to be appointed as an advisor to the Army surgeon general. During her remarkable career, which includes earning a doctorate in nursing practice, she has served in the Active Duty Army, Army National Guard, and the US Air Force. She deployed to Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, where she was the flight commander and the sole OB/GYN provider. She was later appointed by the Governor of Colorado to the Nurse Physician Advisory Taskforce for Colorado Health, working with the governor and Colorado legislature to pass a bill that gave nurse practitioners full practice authority. The Army Nurse Corps will no doubt be stronger for her leadership.

Warm congratulations to both Nathaniel and Laura.