Kathleen (Kathy) Tiernan:  

Bio Sketch for Oakmont site Kathleen Tiernan, MS, Director,Health Outcomes Research Office of Health Policy and Legislative Affairs University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston I am the daughter of Tom and Henrietta Tiernan and grew up at 618 Tenth Street, Oakmont, Pa. Sisters include Nancy, twin Marilyn (Mitz) and Betsy and my brothers are David, Bob, John and Jamie. I graduated from OHS in 1967 with 99 others. I was one of a million sets of twins that grew up in Oakmont in that era. *** 2016 Update: Life is full of Awesome Stuff; Sally and I are still healthy and I love my full–time job. Saw 5 planets in a row with my naked eye while walking the dog and the biggest super moon in my lifetime. Travel was extra ordinary with a Nat Geo jet trip around the Ring of Fire, or the Pacific Ocean, in 3 weeks. Costa Rica, Brazil (Iguaçu Falls!) Patagonia, Easter Island (return), Tahiti, New Zealand (dinner with my sister NANCY and husband Jerry who were traveling from CA- I challenge anyone to beat that “just happened to run into my sister in New Zealand”; Australia (return); Laos; China (Le River); Japan, Alaska (return) Seattle then Houston. Remarkable trip and the day we lost crossing the date line was the extra leap year day. Met bridesmaids Mitz and Betsy in San Diego for older sister Nancy’s 50th wedding anniversary and went to Jamaica Beach to meet Sally and the bridesmaids from her sister Nancy’s 50th wedding anniversary. We had a great 40th Tiernan Turkey Bowl in Galveston and Penn State (graduate degree) went to the Rose Bowl! Was honored by the Galveston Chamber of Commerce for my role in the building of Galveston’s FIRST ever community swim pool. Here is the last news flash: My Fitbit shows I’ve walked the Russian Railroad since April 2015. That’s 5700 miles. Keep walking! All the Tiernans are well and there are more of us! 2015 update: Anybody else in the class of 67 still working? I am! Got to present in San Diego in March about the work of the City of Galveston Families, Children and Youth Board I chair - we are making Galveston a BLUE ZONE if you know what that means. Added some to our travel profile with a Natl Geo Follow the Explorers this Feb. I can add Oman, a return to Nepal and Bhutan, then on to Cambodia, jelly fish lake in Palou, Laos, the Maldives, Botswana and hiked a mountain in Rwanda to see silver-back gorillas on my 66th BD. I also had a eagle on the golf course in the Maldives! We also traveled to the Charleston area for a week - real nice in Edisto. I wear a fitbit and record about 11,000 steps a day. All the Tiernans are good and I am so happy to hear all the good news from Oakmont and beyond. What has all my travel taught me? We were amazingly lucky to have been born where and when we were. *** I received my undergraduate degree from Slippery Rock University (1971) and taught health and physical education at Clarion HS for 2.5 years before returning to Penn State full time. While at Clarion I coached the girl's basketball team from last to first place winning Coach of the Year in 1973. I also coached diving and my star took second at state his junior and senior year! By the way, I swam and dove for the SRU swim team and dove in nationals at Arizona State University my senior year so all of that practice at the Willows pool paid off. I earned a Master's Degree from Penn State University School of Health and Human Development in health sciences. I now have a national certification as a Community Health Education Specialist (CHES). I was recruited to the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, TX in 1975 to work in the areas of health promotion planning and evaluation and I hold the rank of Associate Professor. This is the oldest medical school in Texas. Galveston Island is 50 miles south of Houston, TX and sits in the Gulf of Mexico. Last September, Galveston was sitting under the Gulf of Mexico when Hurricane Ike struck. Our university suffered $710 million dollars in damage. My home was filled with 2.5 feet of water. We are almost at the end of the beginning of the restoration process. The impact of the storm was an unbelievable experience. One of the only other times I felt this overwhelmed was when the Steelers won the first super bowl! Unbelievable! Steeler Casey Hampton graduated from Ball High School in Galveston making this a small world. My first work at UTMB was with school-based research developing self-management education programs for children with asthma. This led to Teaching Myself about Asthma workbook for children. With those profits, I bought my first PC in 1980. I have authored several textbook chapters and articles in peer-review journals. Mostly I have worked on research initiatives in the area of self-management and chronic disease and developing community coalitions. I just finished working with the Galveston Community Access Program (HRSA/CAP) and co-authored a Diabetes Education curriculum and program MY ACTION PLAN: Diabetes Education for a Healthy Lifestyle as well as a look alike educational manual focused on Cardiovascular disease. I served as a program developer and evaluator for a current mental health service improvement initiative for Galveston and Brazoria Counties...Expand for more