From her nursing classes in College Hall, to the leadership team of a major Massachusetts teaching hospital, to now the chair of the Regis College Board of Trustees, Kathleen Jose '87, '94, represents what is possible with a Regis degree.
“I was an adult learner, single parent, with two little kids, taking nursing classes in the basement of College Hall,” said Jose. “That is how I got my nursing degree and what ultimately led me to where I am today.”
A former senior vice president and the first chief nursing officer at Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Burlington, Mass., Jose takes on the Regis College board leadership as the institution prepares to build on its successful response to the pandemic.
“I’m very honored to be asked to take on this responsibility,” said Jose, who assumed the chair on July 1. “Regis obviously means a lot to me. It has made it possible to go down the pathway of expertise in my career and achieve the level of leadership at Lahey that I did. I want to give back and do what I can do to help the next generation of leaders.”
As a return to normalcy comes more into view, Jose said there are a number of exciting opportunities where she and the board can elevate Regis’ growth, from diversity and equity support to facility improvements to increased educational opportunities for adult learners.
“Kathie is the epitome of a Regis graduate,” said university president Antoinette M. Hays, PhD, RN. “From gracing our hallways as a student and then moving through the ranks to become a leader in her profession, she is coming back full circle to give back where it all began. I am confident in her ability to lead our board and look forward to doing great things together.”
Jose has served on the board of trustees for the past five years. She sees her new role as that of a facilitator, listening to input and honing a direction to best support the institution’s leadership and mission. She took the same approach during her tenure at Lahey, where she oversaw more than 1,200 employees, established an educational fund for nurses, and worked to get Lahey Magnet status in 2009, an award given by the American Nurses' Credentialing Center to hospitals that satisfy a set of criteria designed to measure the strength and quality of their nursing.
“We did a lot of good things at Lahey and the quality of the delivery of care was the best it could be,” Jose said. “And that comes from the people we had. It takes teamwork and that is the case whether you are talking about a hospital or a university.”
Jose takes over the trustees’ chair from John J. Tegan, whose term ended in June. The Tegan Learning Commons is named in honor of his wife, Lorraine Tegan ’63. Jose said she is honored to have worked with Tegan, particularly to grow the breadth of expertise and professions represented on the board.
“You have to have the right balance of skillsets,” Jose said. “We’ve got a lot of exciting work to do and we have the right people in place across the university to do it.”
