Distinguished Alumni

“This award is particularly meaningful to me,” Tigges said. “The Yale School of Nursing provided me with an exceptional education in research methodology and statistics that was foundational to my development as a researcher and academician.”

Tigges, currently teaches in the UNM College of Nursing PhD program, where she assists doctoral students in developing their dissertation work and using quantitative research methods.

Tigges helped form the Family Nurse Practitioner and Nurse-Midwifery concentrations at UNM and taught in these programs for more than 17 years. Her recent research has focused on how to improve mentoring climate and research collaborations. She is a past president (2017-2019) of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (Sigma) and was on the Sigma Board for more than 10 years.

Tigges received her bachelor of science in nursing degree from Pennsylvania State University, her master of science in nursing from Yale University in 1984, and her PhD in sociomedical sciences from Columbia University.

Tigges is the second UNM faculty member to be recognized with this distinction. Carolyn Montoya, PhD, RN, clinician educator, professor and interim executive vice dean at the College of Nursing, received the Yale School of Nursing Distinguished Alumni Award in 2007. Montoya earned a BSN and PhD from the UNM College of Nursing and an MSN in pediatric nursing from Yale in 1981.

Montoya served as president of the New Mexico Nurse Practitioner Council, where she worked to achieve successful passage of legislation resulting in full prescriptive authority and independent practice for nurse practitioners in New Mexico. She has also served as president of the American College of Nurse Practitioners and the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. She currently is a member of the U.S. Health and Human Services Rural Health Advisory Committee.