Albertus Magnus College Mourns the Loss of Jacqueline A. Noonan, M.D. ‘50

The Albertus Magnus College Family is saddened by the loss of Jacqueline A. Noonan, M.D. ’50.  She died July 23, 2020 at the age of 91.

A pediatric cardiologist in Kentucky for more than a half century, Dr. Noonan earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from Albertus Magnus and her medical degree from the University of Vermont (UVM).  She was a Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine.  She began her pioneering career at the University of Iowa as their first pediatric cardiologist.

Her long list of internationally recognized accomplishments in caring for children including the 1963 discovery of a congenital heart condition – later to be named the Noonan Syndrome -- a genetic disorder that was accompanied by a unique set of physical characteristics that is present in 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 2,500 people.

In 2008, she received an Honorary Degree from Albertus.  That very same year, she was inducted into the Kentucky Women Remembered exhibit at the State Capitol in Frankfort.  A year later, she was the recipient of the University of Vermont Medical Alumni Association’s A. Bradley Soule Award, which honors an alumnus/a whose loyalty and dedication to the College of Medicine most emulate those qualities found in its first recipient.  A member of the UVM Foundation Leadership Council, and past member of the UVM Medical Alumni Association's Alumni Executive Committee, in 1966 she became the first-ever recipient of the UVM Medical Alumni Association's Distinguished Service Award. Dr. Noonan was given the Helen B. Fraser Award from the Kentucky Public Health Association, was named one of the Best Women Doctors in America by Harper's Bazaar, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Best Doctors in America. She was named the "Gifted Educator" for 2014 by the American College of Cardiology, given to an individual who has demonstrated innovative, outstanding teaching characteristics that contribute significantly to the field of cardiovascular medicine.

Born in Burlington, Vermont, Noonan received a Mass Christian Burial on July 27 at Cathedral of Christ the King in Lexington, Kentucky.  She will be recognized at our Remembrance Service on November 9, 2020 for all of the deceased members of the Albertus Magnus College Community.