LEXINGTON, KY – Bluegrass Community and Technical College (BCTC) receives a donation from Katie and Greg Keeley, founders of Lawrenceburg Bourbon Company, in honor of Dixie Webb, Program Coordinator of the Associate Degree Nursing program of the Lawrenceburg campus.
The scholarship donation was inspired by and named for Dixie Webb, an extraordinary nurse whose life, work and values reflect her commitment to Service before Self: To her country, as an Officer in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps joining in 1984, to her State, as a nurse in multiple disciplines and settings, to her friends and colleagues, as chief comforter and mentor, and to her community as a nurse educator at three colleges to include Bluegrass Community and Technical College. She was in the first nursing graduating class of the University of Kentucky in 1964 and has taught over 1500 nursing students. She also worked at a military hospital in Germany while her husband was in combat in the Vietnam War. Dixie is committed to life-long learning and has been a practicing nurse and educator for 56 years. She is the co-author of the textbook, “Nursing, from Education to Practice.” Dixie is a “Jack of all trades” when it comes to working in various nursing specialties. She prepares ADN graduates to be well-rounded and versatile enough to work in any field.
“I am in awe of the depth and breadth of experience in nursing that Dixie has achieved. Dedicated to a profession for 56 years is impressive and warrants acknowledgement and recognition. Dixie exemplifies our “students’ first” mission,” said Dr. Greg Feeney, Acting President. “Katie and Greg Keeley could not have selected a better person to honor for this endowed scholarship. The legacy that Dixie will leave will have a long-lasting impact on our nursing students,” said Feeney.
Katie and Greg Keeley of Lawrenceburg Bourbon Company is establishing the Dixie Webb Nursing Excellence Endowed fund because she is a nurse, mentor, caregiver, and friend for many years. It is important to give back to their community and what better way than to provide funds to support students who dream to be nurses facing financial hardship in honor of a person so passionate about nursing. Greg is a service-disabled Navy Combat Veteran and served in combat roles in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pacific. Katie is an active-duty member of the U.S. Navy and a colleague of Dixie as nursing faculty at BCTC.
“Greg and I were inspired to create this scholarship by the incredible students in BCTC Lawrenceburg’s nursing program and by their teacher and chief advocate, Dixie Webb. In the classroom, Dixie and I saw too many students carrying extraordinary responsibilities and working against incredible pressure to become nurses,” said Katie Keeley. “We knew they’d be good nurses, if only they had enough support to complete the program. We believe, as Dixie does, that service to your Nation starts with serving your community, and we are honored to have the opportunity to help students stay the course. In doing so, we are privileged to shine a light on Dixie’s legacy and example and hope that others will feel similarly inspired and join us in investing in our shared future and the wellbeing of our community,” said Katie.
The first award(s) will be granted in fall 2024, and endowed fund will exist in perpetuity, supporting future nurses for many generations to come.
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Bluegrass Community and Technical College (BCTC) has seven campuses that are within a 30-minute drive of 95% of Central Kentuckians. The college enrolls over 14,000 students annually and provides training for business partners to more than 2,000 employees. BCTC is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
