UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Despite Penn State’s longstanding history of familial legacy, it’s not quite as common to find both a mother and daughter attending the same university and nursing program. Leah Edgar, a first-year nursing student in the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing at Penn State University Park, is following in the footsteps of her mother, Wendy Edgar, a nursing professor at Penn State Fayette who inspired her love of all things Penn State and nursing.
Wendy said her passion stemmed from watching several family members work as nurses and teachers. After coming to Penn State, she realized, “Oh, I can do both!” Wendy soon solidified her aspiration as a professor and mentor to nursing students to share what she’s learned and experienced in an engaging way.
“I've learned from so many people, and I've had so many amazing mentors through my 30-plus-year career. I take a little piece of each of those people with me when I'm teaching,” Wendy stated.
Wendy graduated from Penn State with her bachelor of science in nursing degree in 1992. Soon after, she began working at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in the surgical intensive care unit and went on to hold positions in emergency medicine. Following her bedside career, she became a faculty member in the nurse practitioner program at Penn State Fayette. She also served as the college’s first Alumni Society President in 2014 after becoming an independent college. Wendy added another Penn State degree to her name when she finished her doctor of nursing practice in 2023.
Between working as a lifeguard and watching her mother as a child, Leah grew familiar with the idea of caring for others. Wendy shared that Leah always had a nurturing personality, so it didn’t come as a surprise that she too wanted to study nursing.
While still early in her academic career, Leah has expressed great joy in her decision to study nursing at Penn State, especially with her mother at her side. As she watched her mother’s role for years, she said she feels confident to take on all that comes her way in the program and clinical settings.
“I grew up in a very Penn State family so I knew I would end up there and in the nursing program,” Leah said.
While Leah and Wendy are based in different campuses, the mother-daughter connection they share as Penn Staters and nurses has created what they called an unbreakable bond.