Tillman Scholars in the News

We’re proud of these Tillman Scholars for continuing to make an impact on their communities. Read on to see how they continue to lead through action.

Jessica Stubblefield, 2019 Tillman Scholar

Jessica Stubblefield published her Master’s thesis this July in the Child Maltreatment journal. What Proportion of Foster Care Children Do Not Have Child Protective Services Reports? A Preliminary Look is Jessica’s first publication.

From Jungle Warfare Training, to completing her associate degree, Jessica continually strengthened her credibility as a leader. She advocated to minimize gaps in medical services and the availability of items at the base PX. Her leadership earned her a seat at the table with the MARFORPAC Commanding General to speak on strategies to mitigate sexual harassment and assault. Jessica left the Corps having empowered her troops to also take ownership and to lead with excellence.

Following her enlistment, Jessica relocated to Colorado to continue to lead and serve. While completing her bachelor’s degree, Jessica investigated the impact of shelter conditions on child health, identified gaps in community social services and assisted youth aging out of the foster care system. These experiences created a passion to understand the dynamics that place individuals at risk of becoming human trafficking victims. Learning more about these gross human rights violations led her to begin her Master of Public Health in Epidemiology degree with the vision to end forced labor and human trafficking of children by exposing the causative factors, thereby enabling the success of targeted solutions and directing a unified approach.

Ali Nayyef, 2018 Tillman Scholar

Ali wrote an OpEd for the Military Times, The National Guard needs funding, not platitudes.

Ali’s passion to serve stems from his background and experience in Iraq, the country where he was born and lived for sixteen years. After losing his father, who served as an interpreter for the U.S. military, to the forces of terrorism, Ali was afforded the opportunity to come to the United States as a refugee in August 2010. The loss of his father and love for America inspired him to join the U.S. military after graduating from high school. In 2014, Ali enlisted in the Virginia Army National Guard where he continues to serve as an Infantryman.

Having endured the hardships of war, Ali gained a meaningful and profound appreciation for the challenges the United States faces in the Middle East. After graduating from community college, Ali continued his academic journey at Christopher Newport University where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and National Security Studies. During his time at CNU, Ali’s fluency in Arabic enabled him to collaborate with his undergraduate mentors to conduct and present original research on several national security topics. At George Mason University, he is now pursuing a Master’s Degree with the goal of earning a doctorate in Political Science. He intends to use his education and life experiences at war and as a refugee to advance public awareness of national security issues.

Matt Miclette, 2016 Tillman Scholar

Matt has submitted two proposals for 2022 SXSW in Austin, Texas, both centered on mental and behavioral health. You can read and vote for these proposals to be accepted!

While serving at WRAMC and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Matt often received patients within five days of their initial injuries, most from Afghanistan, and witnessed up close the tragedy of war. Of the five quadruple amputee patients injured during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, three have been his patients. As debilitating as the physical injuries were, Matt learned it was the invisible injuries that were often most overlooked and particularly challenging for those in his care. So in 2013, he began the next phase of his career as a behavioral health nurse, working with patients suffering from PTSD. Now, with his Master of Public Health (MPH) and Master of Science in Social Policy (MSSP), Matt is leading clinical initiatives at NeuroFlow working with organizations such as Stop Soldier Suicide, Wounded Warrior Project, US Naval Academy, and US Air Force. Matt is also leading the implementing the evidence-based integrated behavioral health models, such as psychiatric collaborative care, into major health systems across the country.

Kim Shaughnessy-Granger, 2017 Tillman Scholar

Kim was recently named as one of 225 distinguished nurse leaders to be inducted as a 2021 Fellow by the American Academy of Nursing. Kim was chosen through a competitive, rigorous process for her leadership and contributions in advancing the public’s health, and will join a community of over 2900 Fellows.

The global reach and permanent impacts of Kim’s leadership and influence span a 24+ year career of visionary achievement. She has improved individual and population health throughout the military medicine enterprise, earning many milestone accolades, including the prestigious 2019 Military Health System Nursing Leadership Excellence Award. As the senior-most Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) in the
Navy, Kim’s career is rife with examples of progressively important impacts. For example, while serving in Okinawa, in the immediate aftermath of the magnitude 9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, Kim coalesced knowledge, experience, and regional connections to support the geopolitically charged emergency response, planning, and evacuation of pregnant women and their families from a high-risk location proximal to the gravely damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant to the Japanese island of
Okinawa for the remainder of their pregnancies, until they could safely return to the United States with
their newborns.

Kim recently completed a top-tier leadership appointment at the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery,
where she leveraged expertise developed during her Doctoral studies to surge prioritized strategic policy
initiatives across the Military Medicine enterprise. With her Doctor of Nursing from Villanova, she has emerged as the most significant champion for military women’s health and female force readiness, improving access to care and driving critical
legislative and policy changes for pregnancy, female military service, lactation support, parenting, and
deployment. Her innovation and collaborative leadership across diverse disciplines have set strategic
direction in multiple domains, including Women’s Health, the Navy Trauma program, and High Reliability
quality tenets across the operational Fleet and Marine Corps. Kim has now transitioned to her new role as
Executive Officer of the Naval Health Clinic and Naval Medical Readiness and Training Command
Quantico, in Quantico, Virginia.