During four decades in leadership roles in the food service, healthcare and senior living industries, Sue McGinley ʼ76, RD, MBA, estimates that she traveled to more than 500 hospitals and nursing homes around the world.

Tired of life on the road, McGinley came back to Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions (CNHP) in 2018 and fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a teacher. As an adjunct professor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences, McGinley shares with students what she calls “my really robust experiences” from her management career.

“Iʼll explain the theories, but then I say, 'This is how it works in the real world.ʼ I teach how it relates to them personally, how it relates to them professionally, and how it relates to the industry. Somehow or another, I want to connect with them so that they can get value out of what Iʼm teaching.”

ALWAYS A TEACHER

After graduating from Drexel with a degree in nutrition and dietetics, McGinley became a registered dietitian and added an MBA from St. Josephʼs University in 1989. When she returned to Drexel as an adjunct professor, she says, former colleagues were not surprised.

“People that I worked with said, ʻThis is such a perfect position for you because you always were a teacher.”

GIVING BACK

McGinley also volunteers as a mentor with the Liberty Scholars program, which helps economically disadvantaged Philadelphia high school graduates attend Drexel. And she has worked with CNHP colleagues to develop recipes that are tasty, inexpensive and nutritionally rich for homeless men through Project Home.

“Itʼs all about giving back and helping others succeed,” McGinley says.