Jefferson Community College Faculty

Maureen D. Duffy Leonard loved the nursing profession. As a professor of nursing for six years at Jefferson Community College, she valued the opportunity to educate students enrolled in nursing courses. The Maureen Duffy Leonard Nursing Memorial Scholarship, developed by Jefferson Community College faculty members, was established in remembrance of an outstanding teacher. She was a professor who “cared about her students and treated them like intelligent equals,” said her daughter, Kathleen A. Leonard.

“My mother was a busy woman, but there were always special moments we would share with each other, often not even talking. We’d just be sitting in front of the television watching some show and eating hot fudge sundaes,” said Ms. Leonard.

Created in 1985, this scholarship provides financial help to a Jefferson Community College student who is enrolled in the nursing program and shows sound academic progress. The money received from this award is disbursed to a returning freshman only.

A daughter of Alex T. Duffy and the late Mildred Hodge Duffy, Maureen D. Leonard was born on July 3, 1931, in Watertown, New York. She graduated from Watertown High School and the House of the Good Samaritan Nurses Training School. She continued her studies in nursing at Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, earning her bachelor of science degree in 1966 and her master’s degree in 1967.

Her teaching career began at the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, New York. After leaving the city, she came back to Watertown to teach at the House of the Good Samaritan School of Nursing and later at Jefferson Community College, where she was appointed head of the nursing department.

Throughout her years of teaching, Mrs. Leonard was an inspiration to her students. Often frustrated, tired and discouraged, they would come to her, ready to quit the program. According to Kathleen Leonard, her mother’s calm voice of reason would keep them pursuing their dream.

Receiving national recognition for her outstanding accomplishments in nursing in 1984, Mrs. Leonard was named Woman of the Year by the National Medical Society and was listed in the inaugural edition of Who’s Who in American Nursing.

Maureen D. Duffy Leonard was a communicant of St. Patrick’s Church. She died September 9, 1985.

The Jefferson Community College Foundation is thankful to faculty members at JCC for offering this scholarship.