Vice President of Operations Andrea McGill-O’Rourke Saturday earns her Ph.D. from the University of Maine at Orono after six years of study.
A Rochester resident, McGill-O’Rourke will earn her doctorate degree in education with a specialization in higher education. In addition to her work at Gifford, she is a long-time educator, currently teaching in the Health Care Management program at Champlain College.
“It feels really good to set a goal and complete it. That to me is the reward and I’ve just learned so much. It really inspired me. I love learning,” says McGill-O’Rourke of completing the degree she started in 2006.
Her dissertation focused on the work-life integration experiences of mid-level women leaders in the northeastern United States.
McGill-O’Rourke says she will use the experience she has gained through her doctorate coursework both in the classroom and in the workplace. “Whether I’m in the hospital or a classroom, I’m teaching. I really look for opportunities where I can education staff,” she said.
A health care administrator for 32 years, McGill-O’Rourke has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Ithaca College and a master’s in social work from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Prior to joining Gifford in 2009, she worked at Blue Hill Memorial hospital in Maine.
McGill-O’Rourke lives with her husband, Jay. Their “blended family” includes four adult children and two dogs, including a new puppy the couple will soon bring home – a chocolate lab they’ve named “Percy.” McGill-O’Rourke’s graduation present to herself, the dog’s name is short for “perseverance,” “because to me what this last six years has been about is perseverance.”
