ALUMNA OF THE YEAR AWARD
Margaret Nye Troy, Nurs ’74
Milwaukee, Wis.
Peggy Troy learned to see the cura personalis in each patient as a child making house calls with her father, a family doctor in a small Illinois town. She adopted this value of knowing each patient beyond their medical needs and reinforced it during her years at Marquette, carrying this Jesuit-based outlook throughout her career to her current tenure as president and CEO of Children’s Wisconsin. “I’m grateful for my Marquette education,” Peggy explains. “It provided me with foundational elements that have allowed me to contribute to improving the lives of kids and families.”
She credits her pediatric nursing instructor, Dr. Jean Hennessey, at Marquette with sparking her passion for serving children and their families. “The way she interacted with children and thought about their care really helped set my direction,” Peggy recalls. Peggy began her career as an intern at Milwaukee Children’s Hospital (now Children’s Wisconsin) and went on to practice as a pediatric nurse before moving into roles as a hospital leader in Texas and Tennessee.
In 2009, she took the helm at Children’s Wisconsin as its first female CEO and president. The health system employs 5,000 people in Wisconsin, is nationally ranked, and includes both a health insurance arm and a foster care and adoption program. Her efforts to advocate for children include working with community clinics in low-income neighborhoods to launch initiatives related to immunization and dental care, mental health, and child abuse prevention. Peggy has also served as chair of the board of the Children's Hospital Association.
Peggy comes from a large, close-knit family. She has five siblings – four sisters, including one that passed away, and a brother. Describing her family as “embedded in the Catholic tradition,” Peggy followed the footsteps of her sister, Jane Selby, Nurs ’67, to Marquette. Peggy met her husband, Ron, Arts ’74, Law ’11, on campus. Today, she serves on Marquette’s Board of Trustees, which she says has deepened her commitment to Jesuit education. She remembers that one of her first board meetings began with a prayer from Oscar Romero, which said, in part: “We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.” The prayer moved her. “I thought ‘Yes! That is what leadership and service are about, especially when caring for kids,’” Peggy recalls.
She remains involved with the Marquette College of Nursing. She and Ron established the Troy Family Endowed Fund for Health Service Delivery and Research, and Peggy was recognized for her contributions to the College of Nursing Simulation Lab.
The Marquette mission continues to challenge Peggy to serve her community, she says. “For me this award really is a reflection on everyone who has helped me along the way and rolled up their sleeves alongside me to make a difference for kids.”
FUN FACTS
Peggy met her husband Ron at Marquette thanks to his hair. “He and his friends had long hair in those days, and I knew how to cut hair,” she recalls, adding, “But I haven’t cut anyone’s hair in a really long time!”
Peggy and Ron have two daughters, Lindsey and Kathryn, a son-in-law Sean, and a granddaughter, MacKenzie, “who really is the star of the show in our family,” Peggy admits.
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