Mary Dura's 10-year-old daughter, Julia, wasn't expected on stage when her mother received the 2026 Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching at Bucks County Community College. She walked up anyway.

"Seeing the pride in her eyes made an unforgettable day even more special," Dura said in BCCC's announcement of the honor.

Dura, who holds a doctorate in education from Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, has taught nursing at BCCC for more than 20 years. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia before completing her Ed.D. at DelVal. Before entering the classroom, she spent years working as a clinical nurse.

Her path into teaching started by accident. During graduate school, a professor encouraged her to teach a health assessment course. For years she balanced clinical practice with classroom work before committing to education full-time.

In her courses, Dura uses case studies, high-fidelity simulations, guided discussions and clinical practice to build students' critical thinking and judgment. BCCC's nursing program prepares graduates to sit for the NCLEX-RN licensing exam.

Dura said the feedback that matters most comes from former students who tell her they felt prepared during difficult patient-care moments or that a classroom lesson helped them make a safe clinical decision. She described teaching nursing not as a job but as a privilege and a responsibility.

The Lindback Foundation, established in 1961 by Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback of Philadelphia, awards the honor to full-time tenured faculty at colleges and universities across the Greater Delaware Valley region. Christian Lindback was president and principal owner of Abbotts Dairies Inc. The award carries a $4,000 stipend, and the foundation's rules say no faculty member may receive it more than once.