Sister Mary Irene MacKinnon and Sister Mary Gabriel LeClair Memorial Award in Nursing

The Sister Mary Irene MacKinnon and Sister Mary Gabriel LeClair Memorial Award in Nursing is awarded to a Nursing student entering fourth year who displays strong leadership skills, particularly those of collaboration, compassion, and the empowerment of others; and maintains a satisfactory academic record. This award honors two remarkable nurses and leaders who made significant contributions to nursing education in Prince Edward Island. Sister Mary Irene MacKinnon was a dedicated bedside nurse, supervisor, and instructor who became the first Director of the Prince Edward Island School of Nursing in 1969. She served as Congregation Leader of the Sisters of St. Martha and received an honorary doctorate from UPEI in 1992. Sister Mary Gabriel LeClair was a graduate of the Charlottetown Hospital School of Nursing who specialized in Pediatrics and served as Director of the PEI School of Nursing from 1973 until her retirement in 1993. Both sisters were instrumental in establishing nursing education programs in the province and worked to ensure that the nursing program would be established as a faculty or school at UPEI. This award recognizes students who embody the leadership qualities, dedication, and compassion that characterized these two pioneering nursing educators.