UW School of Nursing to Honor Distinguished Alumna During Homecoming

Joan Moon is the 2019 Distinguished Alumna for the University of Wyoming’s Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing. She will be honored at the College of Health Sciences’ Distinguished Alumni Reception Friday, Oct. 18.

Moon graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science in nursing and then earned a Master of Science in parent-child nursing in 1987, both from UW. She continued in her graduate nursing accomplishments, practicing as a clinical nurse specialist, certified nurse midwife and university faculty member.

In 1999, Moon graduated from the Frontier School of Nurse-Midwifery and, in 2003, became certified in medical and health education at the Medical College of Ohio. In 2007, she earned an Ed.D. in leadership and policy studies at Bowling Green State University.

Moon has held a variety of positions in her nursing career, including serving as an obstetrical staff nurse, childbirth educator and lactation consultant at Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie. Relocating to Ohio, she worked in the Mercy Health System as a clinical nurse specialist, director of education and director of the Tiffin Mercy Hospital Prenatal Clinic, after which she practiced as a certified nurse midwife. She currently holds a faculty position at Walden University in Minneapolis.

“Receiving the University of Wyoming’s Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award is incredibly special at this time of my life,” Moon says. “Although I never set out to be a nurse, when I discovered this career, I truly found a passion in caring for women. In following that passion, my professional life unfolded with the guidance of mentors, the support of peers and leaders, and the love of family and friends. I truly have been blessed.”

Moon has been an entrepreneur and innovator in women’s health with the development of an educational module, “A Woman’s World: Discovering the Dynamic Menstrual Cycle,” which is used by faculty throughout the country and Australia.

She has written professional publications and, since 2002, has contributed poster or podium presentations at conferences and meetings in the U.S. as well as Canada and Australia. As a contributing editor, her birth poetry was published for many years in the International Journal of Perinatal Education. For several years, Moon served on the editorial review board of the Journal of Human Lactation.

She has been the recipient of several awards, including UW Outstanding Graduate Student for Community and Professional Service; Esther Rome Student Research Award from the International Society for Menstrual Cycle Research; Outstanding Excellence in Mentoring Award from Western Governors University; and Outstanding Community Service Award from Citizens Against Drug Abuse in Bluffton, Ind.

Citing an example of Moon’s leadership skills, one of her nominators points to Moon’s role in the fight against the heroin addiction crisis in the United States.

“Twenty people were arrested on drug charges the day that Joan and her husband, Chuck, retired to his hometown of Bluffton, Ind., with a population of 10,000 people,” says one of her nominators. “Joan is actively participating in this fight by sitting on the Board of Wells County (Indiana) Citizens Against Drug Abuse. Her role as a citizen of the community as well as her background in nursing have helped her support the group’s educational activities.”

To learn more about distinguished alumni from the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing, visit www.uwyo.edu/nursing/alumni/alumni-distinguished/index.html.