In Memoriam: Nicola Mare Usher
She served as an academic advisor in the SPHHS from 2016-2019.
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Nicola Mare Usher, a former academic advisor in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences (SPHHS) at UMass Amherst from 2016-2019, passed away on January 14, 2023.
Usher served as a student success advisor in the SPHHS from 2016-2018 and as an undergraduate academic advisor for the Department of Communication Disorders from 2018-2019 until leaving for an academic advising position in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS). She received her MA in International Education from New York University. She is survived by her husband Dominick Usher, Senior Assistant Dean in the Commonwealth Honors College who also served in an academic advising capacity for SBS and SPHHS, and their daughter.
"Nicola was one of the first student success advisors the school hired," says senior lecturer Dan Gerber, who served as associate dean for undergraduate academic affairs at the time. "She joined us after being a student advisor at NYU and Columbia. Her compassion, confidence, and caring for students set an incredible tone and high bar that all our student success advisors hired after her followed."
Adds Gwyneth Rost, who worked with Usher as the undergraduate program director for Communication Disorders: "She was instrumental in the creation of the Center for Student Success, and then moved to Communication Disorders where, besides being a well-loved resource for our students, she established a peer advising program and helped create processes to increase graduate school acceptance rates among our students. Nicola is fondly remembered by department alumni and faculty for her intelligence, competence, and resourcefulness, but mostly for her grace and kindness."
Usher also served as a board member and volunteer for the Amherst Survival Center. They posted in tribute that “Nicola was a bright light at ASC. She was brilliant, an astute problem solver, funny, kind, and ever willing to jump in and help. She loved volunteering in the store, helping folks find just the right thing. She introduced many people around town to the Center and worked to make it feel accessible to all. As a board member, and especially as the board Vice President and Chair of Governance Committee, she was a trusted thought partner and insightful leader. She was both passionate and measured in her responses and had a remarkable ability to take in all sides on an issue, cut through the noise, and hone in on what was most important…. Nicola embodied the ethos of the Center.”
Usher suffered from a rare RET-positive cancer that occurs in 1-2% of all non small-cell lung cancers, and is more common in younger women who have never smoked. For those wishing to honor her memory, her family asks to consider making a donation to help turn this under-researched cancer into a manageable, chronic condition. Donations can be made here to RETpositive, a patient-driven group and nonprofit organization that aims to improve the quality of life and life expectancy of RET-positive cancer. They raise awareness, provide community support and advocacy, and promote medical research for RET driven cancer.
Usher was active in this patient community and learned about the disease through their resources. Her friends write that “By thinking about others who have this disease or will in the future, we reflect parts of Nicola's indelible legacy: igniting the power of community; leading with a generous spirit; and fighting for others to create a more just and better world.”
Faculty and staff in the SPHHS plan to honor and remember her during a celebration of life on Thursday, February 9 at 4 pm in 131 Arnold House. All are welcome to attend.
