Dr. Christine Corcoran is an exceptional nursing educator. Her ability to engage students in theoretical, technical and scientific concepts in a caring and confident manner endears her to them as a teacher, mentor and role model. Dr. Corcoran is first and foremost a nurse. Everything she does, every class she teaches, every procedure that she demonstrates, indeed, every encounter with a student is framed within the context of how it will contribute to safe, effective quality patient care. Students are clear that at the center of her education, she is considering the patient first. Of particular importance is her willingness to serve as pioneer in nursing and in the Concordia College?s nursing program. With only six weeks preparation time, she volunteered to accompany the first group of Concordia undergraduate nursing students on a trip to India where they completed their community health clinical rotation in nursing. The students who worked with her reported their transformation as nurses and as people because of this experience, all due to her human and nursing presence. Dr. Corcoran has been described by her students as a role model who is energetic, inspirational, fair, caring, competent, and passionate about nursing, teaching, and most of all her students. Dr. Corcoran exemplifies all the core values that students want to emulate as a nurse. She works to engrain her knowledge and experience in every student, priming them to accept the challenge to be only the best nurses. She genuinely cares that they succeed not only in the nursing program, but also in their professional future endeavors. Her commitment and dedication to her students is unparalleled. Under her vision, she has built the nursing lab into a state of the art learning environment. In this caring and nurturing environment, students felt it was ?just what they needed? as they began their journey to becoming nurses. Dr. Corcoran always has a smile on her face and in her heart and her students and colleagues feel it.