Col. Melissa Hoffman '91 Receives 2019 Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award

Col. Melissa Hoffman
Colonel and Deputy Chief
Army Nurse Corps, United States Army

Over the years, Melissa Hoffman ’91 has had the opportunity to travel and serve all over the world with the U.S. Army. She has experiences in different cultures, climates, and medical positions, grown in her career and leadership, has earned numerous awards through her military service, and most importantly, has saved many lives. Her military achievements are what make her this year’s Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award recipient. 

The Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award recognizes exceptional achievement in either a career or community service.

Born and raised in York, Hoffman attended Penn State in State College, but then returned to York with a Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship to pursue nursing with York College. To Hoffman, YCP was not only affordable, but also gave her the foundation she needed to grow her career in the military nursing field. 

Growing up, Hoffman looked up to her father who was a Korean War Veteran. She knew she wanted to follow him into military life and found nursing to be her calling. Through her scholarship with ROTC, she had many opportunities to grow in leadership through her career with the military.

After graduating from York College, Hoffman went on to earn her Master of Science degree in Nursing from George Mason University and a Master of Science degree in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She was one of only six army nurses to graduate out of about 350 graduates in the Carlisle program.

Looking back, Hoffman still fondly remembers her first assignment with Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Though now torn down, she recalls her time there as being the place where she met her husband and where her military nursing career first began.

Currently, Hoffman is the Commander of Martin Army Community Hospital in Fort Benning, Georgia. She plans to spend the next couple of years as the Commander, travel around the southern states with her husband, and pursue a doctorate degree in the executive nurse track.