Manitoba 9/11 victim's name lives on in scholarship

The legacy of aWinnipeg woman who died inthe Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York City lives on five years later, thanks to a scholarship that combines her passions for nursing and the North.

Seven nursing students from Nunavut have received the Dr. Christine Egan Memorial Scholarship since it was created in 2004 by the 55-year-old epidemiologist's friends, family and colleagues at the University of Manitoba.

"I think it's something that would have pleased Chris," said her partner, Ellen Judd, who represents Egan's family on the scholarship selection committee.

Egan was very committed to people in the North, having worked as a nurse in the region for many years, Judd said.

Havingstarted working in Iqaluit in 1969, Egan later movedto Cape Dorset and Pond Inlet. She also spent many years nursing in Kivalliq, primarily in Coral Harbour and Rankin Inlet, and also in Sanikiluaq and Chesterfield Inlet.

"She was really concerned with delivering the best health care she could. But she also really enjoyed living in the North," she said.

The scholarship is available to nursing students from Nunavut who plan to work in the northern territory. The selection committee encourages Nunavut residents who are studying nursing or who are interested in pursuing a career in nursing to apply.

"Most of them are Inuit and they have a long-term commitment to living in the North, and creating the highest possible level of health care for the people that live there," said Judd.

Egan graduated from the Hull School of Nursing in 1967 and earned a PhD in community health sciences at the University of Manitoba in 1999. She was visiting her younger brother's upper-floor officeat the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.