[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 27, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S2082]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO DR. ANN COYNE

 Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Mr. President, today I wish to honor 
Dr. Ann Coyne of Lincoln, NE, who has recently been awarded the 
National Association of Social Workers' Lifetime Achievement Award.
  Dr. Coyne's accomplishments are many, and she is most deserving of 
this prestigious award. First and foremost, she is a loving wife and 
mother. Dr. Coyne was married to her husband, Dermot, for nearly 45 
years before his death in 2002; and they were blessed with six 
children: P.J., Brian, Tom, James, Cathy and Gerry. She has been a 
``mom'' to many more by providing a safe and loving home to many 
Nebraska foster children and by assisting many special needs children 
with international adoptions.
  In addition to being a mother, Dr. Coyne has maintained a strong 
commitment to children throughout her professional career. She is a 
consultant for the Nebraska Foster Care Review Board and was a board 
member for Adoption Links Worldwide. She developed the dual degree 
between social work and public administration at the University of 
Nebraska-Omaha, UNO; was instrumental in renaming UNO's School of 
Social work in honor of another prestigious social worker from 
Nebraska, Grace Abbott; and continues to teach both undergraduate and 
graduate coursework to countless students in our State.
  Perhaps the greatest of Dr. Coyne's achievements is her work in 
Nicaragua. She fosters an ongoing relationship between UNO's Grace 
Abbott School of Social Work and the University of Nicaragua at Leon, 
UNAN, which has assisted 75 Nicaraguans in earning degrees in social 
work. She worked with the Omaha Suburban Rotary Club to found Las 
Chavalitos Maternal and Child Health Clinic in Managua. Additionally, 
Dr. Coyne partnered with a former student to develop the Association de 
Maestras y Padres de Ninos Sordos, which now operates La Escuela de 
Ninos Sordos, a primary day school for deaf children.
  I, and all Nebraskans, have benefitted from Dr. Ann Coyne's 
accomplishments as a teacher, educator, and advocate for children. We 
are proud that the National Association of Social Workers has bestowed 
upon her its Lifetime Achievement Award. And we are also proud that the 
enormous impacts of Dr. Coyne's life and work have benefitted, and are 
continuing to benefit, the children of Nebraska, the United States of 
America, and the world.

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