SCHOLAR DIRECTORY

Monica Nichols White is a native of Canton Mississippi and currently resides in Ridgeland. She is a graduate of Tougaloo College, Loyola University New Orleans, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center where she earned a BA in English/ Journalism, a Master of Art in Mass Communication, a BSN in nursing and a Master of Science in Nursing respectively. She is currently perusing her PhD in Nursing through the School of Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences at UMMC. Before becoming a faculty member in 2014, Monica worked as a staff nurse at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and at River Oaks Hospital in Canton, Mississippi. Before her nursing career started in 2010, she served as Communications Director for the Dryades YMCA in New Orleans, Louisiana. At the YMCA she was exposed to the reality of the harsh relationship between low income families and subpar education and healthcare. This reality allowed her to assist the organization in providing high quality education to children and adults who had the desire to learn, and to create programs that would help prevent or minimize chronic diseases. After Hurricane Katrina, Monica moved back to Mississippi and taught in both traditional and non-traditional education arenas. Although she ultimately chose a career in nursing, she found that her passion for teaching would not go away. Subsequently, she earned a degree in Nursing Education and became an instructor at the same institution that helped cultivate her nursing career.