Women Leaders
of Mercer University

Widely recognized as a leader in nursing education, ethics and simulation, Dr. Jennifer Bartlett’s work helps advance the mission of the College of Nursing and Mercer University. She credits her mother, an oncology nurse, with sparking her passion for nursing.

“I grew up with stories. Sometimes they were blood and guts, sometimes they were sorrowful and heartfelt, other times they were funny. Sometimes there were success stories,” said Dr. Bartlett, associate professor of nursing. “These relatively inappropriate dinner conversations really shaped who I am as a person, how I deliver nursing care, and certainly how I teach.”

Dr. Bartlett joined Mercer’s College of Nursing faculty on the Atlanta campus in 2015 and was recently named the associate dean for undergraduate nursing for the program’s expansion to the Macon campus. She’s working closely with College of Nursing Dean Dr. Tammy Barbé, Executive Vice President Dr. Penny Elkins and Vice Provost Dr. Kelly Reffitt to develop the program that is slated to launch in fall 2025. 

Before coming to Mercer University, Dr. Natalia Cardelino designed buildings as a structural engineer. Now, her main focus areas are building the infrastructure to bring clean water to communities in need and helping students understand how they can use engineering concepts to solve real-world problems.

Growing up, Dr. Cardelino thought she wanted to be an architect until she started touring colleges and discovered the field of structural engineering, a subset of civil engineering that focuses on elements related to a building’s strength and stability. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering at Cornell University.

Dr. Cardelino spent about 16 years working in the field, first for the agency Arup in London, New York and Massachusetts and then for Uzun & Case Engineers in Atlanta. She mainly designed museums and university and school buildings, including the high school that her children attend in Chamblee, Georgia.

“I’m always just super proud of the fact that it’s my building, and they’re there,” she said

A Mercer University professor took service-learning to a new level when her students created Traffick Jam, a social brand founded to address adolescent sex trafficking. 

Up until then, Dr. Tammy Crutchfield’s marketing students would take on projects for clients in the community. And while working with those clients was beneficial, it had its drawbacks. 

“When we built our own brand, we were able to do things that we were not able to do when we tried to help an external client because of their budget limitations, their time limitations, their missional limitations,” said Dr. Crutchfield, professor of marketing in the School of Business. 

With Traffick Jam, each year, students can see the impact they have on their own brand. 

“They get to practice their skills, build experiences and stories that they can communicate to future employers or future professional or graduate schools, and then they are also learning,” she said. “That learning by doing is really how you ultimately learn.”

Dr. Maria Hammett’s job touches just about every student at Mercer University. As associate vice president for the Office of Student Financial Planning, she leads the team responsible for compliance and administration of federal, state and institutional financial aid. 

In the 2023-2024 academic year, her office processed over $289 million in financial aid for Mercer’s more than 9,000 students. 

“I feel like we do change people’s lives,” Dr. Hammett said. “I have people that say, ‘If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have graduated.’ And it’s not just special to me. It’s special to everyone who works in financial aid. 

“You have a lot of people who come in and even just your smile sometimes makes the difference of them staying or not because they’re feeling isolated, they’re feeling alone, they’re feeling like they can’t figure it out. … When you help them figure it out, it’s just a really good feeling.”

Sharon Lim Harle came to Mercer University’s Atlanta campus as an international student in 1982 and never left. As assistant vice president for the Office of Alumni Engagement and University Special Events, she is proud to be part of Mercerians’ journeys from students to alumni.

Harle grew up in Malaysia, and her parents’ connections as American Peace Corps volunteers led her to Mercer for her college education. She came in as a pianist majoring in music but quickly realized the long practice hours were not for her. 

“I spoke to some business folks and fell in love with business,” she said. “I found the world of business exciting, especially marketing. We had a lot of international students at that time in the early ’80s here on the Atlanta campus, and I think that interaction grew into something more than just community.”

After completing her Bachelor of Business Administration in 1986, she pursued a Master of Business Administration while also working in the bursar’s office. Before long, she became the assistant registrar and was in charge of commencement. She joined the alumni services office in 1995, and her job has continually evolved since then.

As a professor and researcher, Dr. Gail Kemp is contributing to the development of the next generation of clinical psychologists and working to break down barriers to accessing quality mental health care.

Dr. Kemp, assistant professor of clinical psychology in Mercer University’s College of Health Professions, holds a bachelor’s degree in African American studies from Harvard University and a master’s degree in public health and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Boston University. She was a faculty member at the University of Scranton before coming to Mercer in 2021. 

Growing up, Dr. Kemp may not have known she was headed toward a career in psychology, but her loved ones did.

“If you were to ask folks who knew me my whole life, they will say it was a journey I was always on unbeknownst to me. From an early age, thinking through why people did what they did was a constant companion to me. It was the way my mind worked,” she said.

Amy Schwartz Moretti says she “doesn’t remember a day without the violin.” Now, she inspires that passion in her strings students.

“I’ve been around and in love with music my whole life,” she said. “My life leading to today has included lots of alone practice, lots of playing for teachers and other musical professionals, lots of performing and lots of seeking inspiration and musical context. From a young age, I enjoyed sharing music with others and constantly sought out that experience.”

Moretti graduated from the prestigious Cleveland Institute of Music for both her undergraduate and master’s degrees. A member of the acclaimed Ehnes Quartet, she was previously the concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony and The Florida Orchestra before coming to Mercer as the first director of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings in 2007.

“My current position has allowed me to continue that passion and share my knowledge with the next generations,” she said.

For Chelsea Rathburn, writing and teaching are deeply connected. Her passion for both fuels her work as a poet and an associate professor of English and creative writing at Mercer University, where she blends her love for literature with her dedication to helping students find their voice as new writers.

Today, Rathburn is an award-winning poet and Poet Laureate of Georgia. She said her love for writing began early in her life. As a child growing up in Miami, her mom, a preschool teacher, would take her to the public library daily, and Rathburn said she would check out “stacks and stacks of books.” For her, the joy of reading replaced the toys and games that she often didn’t have. 

“From a really young age, books were this escape,” she said. “It was this space of pleasure, happiness and joy — all the good stuff.”

Monica Armstrong Roudil discovered her passion for tax law during a required income tax course in law school. Now an associate professor at Mercer University School of Law, she is helping students see that tax law isn’t as challenging as many of them believe. 

“I really appreciate how students embrace a subject they once found daunting,” she said. “Their energy and hard work are inspiring, especially when those who initially thought tax would be challenging end up actually enjoying it.”

Roudil primarily teaches courses on federal income tax, federal tax procedure and federal taxation of wealth transfers, as well as the first-year course contracts I. In addition, she teaches a low-income tax clinic, which she started in 2022. 

Dr. Jean Sumner cares deeply about rural health care in Georgia. She believes, and has seen firsthand, that physicians impact quality of life, even outside their practice.

“We need to improve access to quality health care, especially in underserved rural areas, because it changes lives. It changes futures,” said Dr. Sumner, dean of Mercer University’s School of Medicine. “If you have a physician who is your doctor and will work with you, a patient can accomplish amazing things.”

A third-generation Georgia physician, Dr. Sumner is no stranger to accomplishing amazing things. A member of Mercer School of Medicine’s first graduating class in 1986, she said she was expected to go to college, but her parents didn’t push her to study medicine.

“It mattered to them that if you’re going to do something, you do it well and work hard at your profession,” she said.