UMMC School of Nursing Alumni honors spotlight Mangum, Riddick

Published on Monday, May 13, 2024

By: Annie Oeth, aoeth@umc.edu

Photos By: Jay Ferchaud/ UMMC Communications

The chain of nursing, from students to faculty to alumni, was celebrated during the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Nursing’s annual Alumni Awards Luncheon.

Dr. Carl Mangum, the 2024 UMMC School of Nursing Alumnus of the Year, saw in the audience a former student, Johnna Riddick, the 2024 Early Career Award winner, as well as Dr. Connie Thompson, who taught him as a nursing student.

“You can see how the nursing stair steps go,” Mangum said, acknowledging them both. “Nurses keep giving, helping the nurses coming behind us.”

Mangum, an associate professor, is director of the School of Nursing’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Track and is an emergency preparedness and response specialist. After serving the Mississippi State Hospital, Mangum began his 24 years of serving as a nursing faculty member at UMMC.

He is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and team commander of the Delta-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team for the U.S. Department of Human Services, and he also is a team commander for the National Disaster Medical System under the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response under the U.S. Department of Human Services.

As a leader in his profession, Mangum is president of the Mississippi Nurses’ Association and served the organization as vice president from 2007 to 2011 and from 2019 to 2021. He was MNA treasurer from 2017 to 2019. He has also served on the Professional Advisory Board and the Board of Directors of the Epilepsy Foundation of Mississippi.

After earning an associate degree in nursing from Hinds Community College in 1994, he completed the RN-to-BSN program at UMMC in 1998. Mangum then earned his MSN from UMMC in 2000 and a PhD in leadership from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2010. He finished a post-graduate certificate as a psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner at UMMC in 2012 and completed the Business Advantage Program at Millsaps College in 2022.

Mangum received the U.S. Surgeon General’s COVID-19 Pandemic Civilian Service Medal, which is presented to civilians who are deployed for 30 consecutive or 60 cumulative days to provide medical care to state, territory, tribal and local partners.

The Early Career Award recognizes UMMC School of Nursing alumni who have made a significant impact on the nursing profession within the first 10 years after graduation. Riddick, a nursing instructor in clinical, laboratory and simulation areas, completed her BSN at UMMC in 2014 and started her nursing career at Children’s of Mississippi, UMMC’s pediatric arm.

Riddick returned to the School of Nursing to earn her MSN, which she finished in 2019. She joined the School of Nursing faculty in 2021 and is now studying in the school’s DNP program.

“The UMMC School of Nursing is the best place,” she said, “and it is amazing to work alongside the people who taught me and shaped me into the nurse that I am.”

Also at the luncheon, held at the River Hills Club, were nine members of the School of Nursing Class of 1974.

“We got a fabulous education,” said Dr. Janet Harris, a member of the class who went on to serve the Medical Center as interim CEO and chief nursing executive officer. “Proof of that is the ladies in this room, each of whom has been a nursing leader in her own right.”

Dr. Tina Martin, dean of the School of Nursing and a UMMC alumna, updated attendees on enrollment growth, noting that the school has 865 students this spring and is projecting an enrollment of 904 next year.

The school’s growth comes as a new School of Nursing will be under construction this summer. The additional space is expected to allow for enrollment growth of 25%.