Graceland Legend to Speak at Fall Commencement

Graceland University is proud to announce that Sharon M. Kirkpatrick, PhD, will serve as the keynote speaker for the university’s 2025 Commencement Ceremony, held Saturday, December 13, 2025, in the Community of Christ Auditorium in Independence, Missouri.

Sharon “Sherri” Minton Kirkpatrick grew up in Independence, Missouri, and attended Graceland University, where she met her husband, Jac. She graduated from Graceland in 1965 with an AA, attended the nursing program at the Independence Sanitarium and Hospital School of Nursing, and later received a BSN from California State University and an MSN and PhD from the University of Kansas. Kirkpatrick served as a member of the faculty or administration at Graceland for nearly 30 years.

During her 16-year tenure as Dean of Nursing at Graceland, Kirkpatrick initiated the first nationwide distance learning RN-BSN program in the U.S. and established Graceland’s first graduate program. She frequently traveled with her husband and trained health workers in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Africa, and Asia.

In 2009, Sherri and Jac co-founded HealthEd Connect, a nonprofit organization with the mission of empowering women and children through evidence-based health, education, and advocacy programs. Health workers supported by HealthEd Connect deliver over 2,000 babies each year in the Democratic Republic of Congo, provide annual well-baby monitoring for over 60,000 babies in Malawi, and install sanitation systems and smokeless cook stoves in the Himalayas of Nepal. Three schools established in Zambia provide free education and hot lunches for over 1,600 orphans and vulnerable children.

Among other achievements and recognitions, Kirkpatrick served on numerous boards and committees, was a consultant to the USSR Soviet Children’s Fund, was selected as a World of Children honoree, and received the Kansas City Chapter United Nations World Citizen of the Year award in 2005. She and her husband together were awarded the Graceland University Alumni Distinguished Service Award.

The Kirkpatricks reside in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and have two sons — Brent, an IT professional (wife, Julie), and Kraig, a radiologist (wife, Kristi) — along with five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.