Realizing Potential - Celebrating Faculty and Staff Members' Campaign Giving

REALIZING POTENTIAL Celebration | FACULTY AND STAFF MEMBERS — Campaign Giving | 25 HOW NSU HELPED HER SAVE A FRIEND Marcia Tippenhauer, B.S., is a self-described “Shark person.” She actively participates in many of NSU’s campus and community events and encourages others to do so, too. As an employee, alumna, and mother of an NSU student, she can recount many experiences at the university. Her stories are captivating—her enthusiasm for NSU infectious. “I am in my 12th year, and I still love my job,” said Tippenhauer, who serves as the administrative support lead for employee relations in NSU’s Human Resources department. She added, “I try to sell [NSU] every single opportunity I have, because I believe in NSU and what we represent—the core values and everything.” Tippenhauer likes to share a story about how NSU helped her save a friend’s life. Tippenhauer’s friend suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), a disease with varied symptoms, including incapacitating fatigue. Nancy Klimas, M.D., is one of the world’s leading researchers of CFS—she also happens to be the director of the Institute for Neuro- Immune Medicine at NSU. Tippenhauer said she wasn’t aware of Klimas’ work until her friend reached out to her, pleading for help. “Sometimes we don’t see everything that’s going on [at NSU],” she said. Once she learned about Klimas, she knew she had to make an effort to get her friend an appointment. Tippenhauer went as far as to meet with Klimas’ lead assistant face-to-face. “Her assistant was so sympathetic to [my friend’s] story, she got her the appointment. There was a six-month wait, but within three months, they called her to come in. Dr. Klimas has saved her life. You can never fully recover, but you do see improvement,” said Tippenhauer. In gratitude, Tippenhauer and her friend attend all of Klimas’ conferences and events, whenever they have the opportunity. “It’s not difficult to give, and everything counts. Nothing is too small.” FACULTY AND STAFF MEMBER GIVING Marcia Tippenhauer, B.S. ’10