UAB alumnae Kesha Thurston, DNP, and LaDana Williams-Davis, DNP, have endowed a scholarship to the UAB School of Nursing which will be open to students who are in good academic standing and are currently enrolled in or admitted to the Nurse Anesthesia program.

Thurston and Williams-Davis have served as certified registered nurse anesthetists at UAB Hospital-Highlands and UAB Hospital, respectively, for over 10 years. They hope their scholarship will increase diversity within the nurse anesthesia profession by supporting students who are underrepresented in the field.

"LaDana and I have worked in many hospitals together over the years, and we still hear from patients that we are the only Black CRNAs they've ever seen and how great it is that they can relate to someone of the same culture and demographic," Thurston said. "Depending on the literature you read, the percentage of Black CRNAs in the nation is three percent, and so anything we can do to help facilitate the matriculation into the program, we will do."