The Chesapeake College community mourns the recent loss of Elizabeth Draper Brice, a former member of the Board of Trustees. The Queen Anne’s County native grew up close to Chesapeake’s campus, and later helped guide the institution through a period of significant growth and change.
Ms. Draper Brice’s tenure on the board was marked by a period of substantial growth as Chesapeake opened the Performing Arts Center, Learning Resource Center and Eastern Shore Higher Education Center. Representing Queen Anne’s County on the Board of Trustees from 1992-2004, Ms. Draper Brice served as Chair in 1998 and 1999.
Ms. Draper Brice, a nurse, was instrumental in the transition of the Macqueen Gibbs Willis Nursing School diploma program at Memorial Hospital in Easton to the associate’s degree program at Chesapeake College. That nursing program transition led to the expansion of health programs at Chesapeake and, eventually, the opening of the Health Professions and Athletics Center on campus.
Dr. Stuart Bounds, Chesapeake’s President during Ms. Draper Brice’s time as Chair, said her leadership had a lasting effect on the College.
“Elizabeth Brice was a devoted champion of Chesapeake College throughout her tenure on the Board of Trustees. She was raised on a farm just a short drive from the College and cherished her roots in Queen Anne’s County,” Dr. Bounds said. “As a board member and then as chair she was a strong supporter of the transition of the School of Nursing at Memorial Hospital in Easton to Chesapeake College. With her background and training in nursing, she understood the importance of expanding the College’s programs in the health professions which today are centers of excellence in our curricula. I was fortunate to serve as President under her leadership as Chair of the Trustees.”