Family establishes Kathy Dungan scholarship at IVCC

Friends and family of Kathy Dungan recently donated more than $20,000 to endow a scholarship in her memory.

Dungan, a native of Mendota, earned her associate degree in nursing in 1978 at IVCC before becoming a dedicated nurse at the University of Illinois at Chicago Hospital for more than 30 years. Dungan lived in Elmhurst for 40 years but maintained a strong connection to her roots and to the college that helped launch her career in healthcare. She died in December 2024.

The Kathy Dungan Memorial Nursing Scholarship is intended to honor Dungan, who made a lasting impact in her field and in the lives of those she served, as well as to inspire and support future nursing students.

“When she was 15, Kathy rode her bike to a local nursing home and asked for a job because she wanted to be a nurse,” said her husband, Otis. “My wife was born to care for others and spent her life doing just that. She was an incredible nurse, friend, mother, wife and grandmother. We hope this scholarship will help a student currently working in the medical field who wants to attend IVCC to further their career. Kathy would have loved knowing that she would be helping so many students follow her path.”

For information about IVCC's array of scholarship opportunities and creating new scholarships or contributing to existing ones like this, please visit the IVCC Foundation webpage at https://www.ivcc.edu/givetoivcc/ or call Tracy Beattie, Executive Director of the Foundation, at 815-224-0550.