Three Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing alumnae — including two faculty members — will be inducted into the Hunter College Alumni Association Hall of Fame during the 2025 alumni weekend.
The three are:
- Associate Professor Judith Aponte BS ’94, MS ’98, a diabetes expert and director of the Community/Public Health Nursing specialty,
- Assistant Professor Aliza Ben-Zacharia MS ’90, an expert on caring for patients with neurological diseases, especially multiple sclerosis, and
- Eileen O’Connor Coulom BS ’76, an award-winning nurse leader in the field of dignified eldercare, dementia care, and education.
They will be awarded the honor during a ceremony at Hunter on March 28. Inductees are listed by year on plaques in the West Lobby at Hunter’s 68th Street campus.
The Hall of Fame Committee of the Alumni Association of Hunter College inducts alumni for service to the college, outstanding service to the community, or both!
“We are thrilled that the Hunter College Alumni Association is giving our alumnae well-deserved recognition,” said Ann Marie Mauro, Joan Hansen Grabe Dean of Nursing. “They are true humanitarians — thoughtful researchers, caring practitioners, and inspiring teachers.”
Aponte, a public-health expert, is the scientific research associate director of the CUNY Institute for Health Equity. She and Maria Isabel Roldós of Lehman College are the co-principal investigators on a five-year, $1.25 million NIH Science Education Partnership Award that seeks to improve health outcomes and train health professionals in The Bronx.
Ben-Zacharia holds a PhD from NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. She researches how technology, palliative care, and environmental factors can affect the progression of multiple sclerosis. Ben-Zacharia has many scholarly publications and has made a series of videos training practitioners in neurological care.
O’Connor Coulom has spent three decades innovating approaches to improving the lives of people affected by dementia, dysphagia, and swallowing disorders. She has been awarded the State of Connecticut’s Nightingale Award and the Aging Services Award for Excellence by Leading Age, a national organization promoting excellence in eldercare.
About the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing
The Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing mission is to cultivate collaborative nurse leaders promoting wellness and championing health equity in diverse local and global communities through excellence in education, research, scholarship, and advocacy. Its vision is to shape nurse leaders advancing health equity for a thriving, healthier world.
