On a cold January evening in 2015, as snow began to fall across Richmond, colleagues, family and students gathered at a local restaurant to celebrate Marjorie T. Goodwin’s retirement. That night, she expected kind words and memories from more than two decades of service in VCU’s Department of Nurse Anesthesia. What she did not expect was the announcement that would bring her to tears: a scholarship would carry her name forward.

“I was shocked. I mean, it was like – a scholarship in my name?” she recalled. “Because all of the scholarships in the department were from professors. I was not a professor. I was an administrator. So that said a lot that they really loved me. It was mind-boggling.”

For Marjorie, that recognition reflected a program that saw and valued her years of small, unseen moments, or so she thought.

Now the Marjorie T. Goodwin Scholarship Fund in Nurse Anesthesia supports full-time students from underserved populations. To date, three students have received the scholarship: Ebony Opong-Brown (2026), Angel Yu (2026) and Casey Zhao (2025). Each recipient reflects the scholarship’s purpose, which is supporting academically strong students who will go on to provide care in diverse communities.

A career that almost didn’t happen

Marjorie never set out to work in nurse anesthesia. In 1992, she was let go from a state agency after a change in administration. A colleague mentioned a job opening for a Program Support Technician at VCU, and she interviewed despite knowing little about the field. “I couldn’t even really pronounce anesthesia,” she said. “I knew doctors of anesthesia, but never a nurse anesthetist. My intention was not to stay, but I ended up enjoying the people I worked with and the students who came through the program – and I stayed for 21 years.”

During that time, she became the voice of the department. Marjorie was the staff member who called admitted students with news they’d been waiting for – that they’d been accepted into one of the nation’s top programs. “It was just exciting to hear the screams and the cries on the other line,” she said. “Prospective students had been waiting for that call and didn’t know if they were going to get it. Even now, when I see these graduates at reunions, they still tell me what they were doing when they got my call.”

As Nickie Damico, Ph.D., CRNA, associate professor and the Herbert T. Watson Endowed Chair of the Department of Nurse Anesthesia, put it: “There are generations of nurse anesthesia students who remember that phone call from Marjorie when they got their offer of admission. But she was also the person you went to if something wasn’t going right. We had advisors, we had faculty, but more than anything, you’d go to Marjorie because she would make you feel better. She’d say, ‘It’s going to be okay. Keep pushing. You got this.’”

Many leaned on Marjorie during her time with the program. Faculty turned to her when they were new or unsure of university policies. Alumni CRNAs often stopped by and gathered in groups in her office – just to spend time with her. As Damico recalled, “She was the glue of the department for a very long time.”

A life centered on students

What defined her career were the countless moments of connection with students. Her husband, Mike Goodwin, saw it firsthand. “Her students were first at all times,” he said, “and it was so graciously put by the students that this is ‘Mama Margie.’ If it was a personal matter or academic, they would come to her, and she would always give them that encouragement.”

Mike remembers the retirement night as vividly as his wife does. “It was breathtaking,” he said. “We were flabbergasted, because Margie has always been about serving the community, be it with her sorority or with the church.”

Even now in retirement, she finds herself stopping by alumni events and scholarship luncheons. “She genuinely enjoys being around the CRNAs that she helped raise,” Damico said.

A scholarship with a name and purpose

Marjorie sees the scholarship as a way to open doors for students, because it allows them to focus on their training instead of worrying how to pay for it.

In fact, the couple has contributed to that very scholarship, with their latest gift coming after talking with students at a recent scholarship brunch. And as Nurse Anesthesia remains one of the top programs, its reputation owes much to the faculty, staff and students who shaped it over decades. 

“Giving back is something that I was brought up doing,” she said. “My parents taught us that at a young age, and I’m honored that this generation is giving back in my honor.”

To honor Marjorie’s legacy and help the next generation of nurse anesthetists, consider contributing to the Marjorie T. Goodwin Scholarship Fund today.

by Dan Carrigan