2025 Alumni Service Award
The 2025 Spring Michigan State University College of Nursing Alumni Service Award recipient is Julie Bekius, MSN ’01. This award recognizes a nursing alum whose dedicated work and exemplary service have benefited society and the profession of nursing. Recipients have demonstrated community service on a local, state, national or international level.
Julie knew she wanted to be a nurse from a young age. A native of West Michigan, Julie started her nursing journey at Grand Valley State University (GVSU), earning her BSN in 1997. After three years working as an RN, she decided to pursue her dream of becoming a Nurse Practitioner. Julie discovered an MSU program that allowed her to attend classes in Muskegon, Michigan where a MSU professor in East Lansing taught over satellite video. She earned her MSN from the MSU College of Nursing in 2001. Before virtual learning was commonplace, this innovative program allowed Julie to engage in the Spartan experience while working full-time in the Grand Rapids area.
Julie worked for 10 years in several areas of practice including family practice, allergy and asthma, retail medicine, and physical rehabilitation, before finding her passion in palliative care. Though challenging, she considers it an honor and privilege to be with patients through serious illness, often lending emotional support in addition to medical care. When Julie started a dozen years ago, she worked primarily in the inpatient setting for palliative care. At the time, Corewell Health (formerly Spectrum Health) offered only two half-day palliative care clinics per month. Now, the program offers clinics both in person in Grand Rapids, and virtually at five regional cancer centers across Michigan. Julie’s advocacy was integral to expanding access to palliative care at Corewell Health.
Julie still works one day a week in the palliative care clinic, but recently, she has shifted her focus toward empowering the next generation of nurses. After receiving her DNP from Missouri-based Maryville University in 2023, Julie earned a tenure-track position at GVSU, where she teaches in the undergraduate and graduate programs through didactic, clinical and simulation courses. She also serves as project advisor to DNP students and faculty advisor for the GVSU student Chapter of Michigan Council of Nurse Practitioners (MiCNP).
In 2024, Julie co-led a study abroad program to Cape Coast, Ghana, where BSN students provided care in community clinics while being immersed in the culture. She also participated in a medical mission trip through her church to Tima, Egypt, where they held six free medical clinics in the surrounding communities. In 2025, Julie became the chair of the Study Abroad Task Force at the GVSU Kirkhof College of Nursing.
Julie is also engaged in Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, Hospice and Palliative Nursing Association and the MiCNP.
Overall, Julie believes that service is at the heart of nursing. She is grateful for the support she has received from her family and mentors throughout her career and education journey, which has allowed her to follow her passion for helping others, whether it be on a local or global level.