THIBODAUX — Nicholls State University’s new first lady, retired U.S. Army Col. Jeanne Picariello Murphy, is the featured speaker at the 2014 Bonnie Bourg Lecture Series.
Murphy will present her lecture, “When a Door Opens,” at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 25 in Peltier Auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Nicholls hosts the Bonnie Bourg Lecture Series annually in celebration of Women’s History Month. This year’s theme is “Celebrating Women of Character, Courage and Commitment.”
Murphy, a former intercollegiate and international athlete, served on the U.S. Olympic Committee and led the U.S. delegation to the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. Murphy spent 10 years as a U.S. Army nurse. She later served as chief of health promotion for the U.S. Southern Command in Panama and spearheaded army health, wellness and support programs in Germany, Virginia, in the Pentagon and at the Army War College. During and after the Gulf War, she worked with combat troops in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. In 2005, she worked with the American Red Cross in Gulfport, Miss., during Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
Murphy is the wife of Nicholls President Bruce Murphy.
The lecture is part of the 15th annual Jubilee: A Festival of the Arts and Humanities, which is held every spring on the Nicholls campus. For a full schedule of Jubilee events, visit www.nicholls.edu/jubilee.
