NSU Horizons Fall 2017

35 NSU HORIZONS When Leonard Pounds, B.S., M.S., graduated from high school, he found a note he wrote in kindergarten tucked inside his diploma. It said he wanted to join the U.S. Navy because his father served in the Navy during the Vietnam War. “That was a time capsule note to myself,” he said, and a prophetic one. Pounds en- listed right after graduation, first serving as an Information Systems Technician Petty Officer 2nd Class on board the U.S.S. Shreveport . Navy aptitude tests found information technology would be a good fit for him, and Pounds had completed many IT training programs by the time of the 9/11 attacks. He was aboard one of the first Navy ships dispatched to Afghanistan, and later served in Iraq during his four years of active duty. “It teaches you to grow up quickly,” he said of his Navy ser- vice. “By 19, I was in charge of all the technology for the ship.” Pounds joined Nova Southeastern University in 2007, and now is senior director of Clinical Informatics within the Office of Innovation and Information Technology, guiding development and integration of clinical technology, policy, standards, and procedures for NSU’s health care services. Pounds and his wife, Isabelle Shick, M.B.A., 2010, are now giving support to two of the things that matter most to them: veterans and higher education. They established the Veterans Endowment Fund with an initial donation of $25,000. The grant will be made to a veteran honorably discharged from the U.S. Armed Forces and attending NSU. It can go toward tuition and fees, room and board, books, and supplies. The couple expects the fund to grow. Other NSU em- ployees said they will contribute, as have Shick’s family members. That would allow them to give more, or bigger, grants. They hope to set up a similar fund at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, where both earned their under- graduate degrees. The idea for the fund came as they were “talking about how we could give back,” Pounds said. “We have been blessed and have done very well for ourselves and wanted to do something for someone else.” Financial assistance to veterans meets an obvious need. While the GI Bill provides up to 36 months of education benefits, it and other federal programs for veterans often don’t cover all their costs. Also, there are time gaps in when veterans are paid. “With the cost of college going up, it is becoming harder for veterans,” Pounds said. Veterans who graduated from NSU said financial help is important. “Financial support is something that is totally needed,” said Kelsey De Santis, a former Marine who obtained a B.A. with a minor in entrepreneurship from NSU in 2015 and is now the coordinator of the Veterans Resource Center. “It is really special when it goes to a veteran who is truly deserving,” she added. “There is a great need for veterans to have financial assistance,” said Air Force veteran Tamiko Jordan, who is pursuing a doctorate degree in marriage and family therapy at NSU. She used the GI Bill and other funding sources to obtain a B.S. in Psychology from Florida A&M University and an M.S. in Family Therapy from NSU. continued on next page Leonard Pounds and his wife, Isabelle Shick, discuss veterans’ issues with former U.S. Marine Kelsey De Santis, coordinator of NSU’s Veterans Resource Center. The couple established the Veterans Endowment Fund.