SANTA BARBARA, CA, March 07, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Barbara Lang Gutmann with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Ms. Gutmann celebrates many years' experience in her professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes she has accrued in her field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Ms. Gutmann is a retired staff nurse, nurse educator, nurse administrator and nurse consultant. A practicing nurse beginning in 1956, Ms. Gutmann was first hired at the VA Hospital in Syracuse, NY as a staff nurse where she also taught CPR to the staff and developed a diabetic teaching program for the Nursing Department. She then became a Public Health Nurse at the Syracuse City Health Department and at the County Department of Public Welfare. Later she worked in various roles, including as a school nurse teacher, a teacher of educable retarded children of junior high school age, a staff nurse at Stanford University Hospital, and a private duty nurse in Buffalo, NY. She taught nursing at Niagara Community College for two years before relocating to Santa Barbara where she also taught nursing at Santa Barbara City College and in the California State Nursing Program. Once settled in Santa Barbara, Ms. Gutmann was hired as the Director of Nursing Services, and then as Project Director, for the Homemaker Upjohn Contract Offices in Santa Barbara. Here she developed a video program as a teaching tool to prepare people for the role of home health aide to the disabled. This video was successfully used in three counties by Upjohn. She then became a Director of Education and Director of Nursing at several different area hospitals and Sansum Clinic, eventually becoming the Assistant Administrator of Health at Vista del Monte Retirement Community between 1992 and 1996.
In 1962 the Gutmann's bought a large two family house in the outer Syracuse University area. A fine black family with two young school aged children answered their advertisement for a renter for the downstairs apartment. (The Gutmann's lived upstairs.) The "Jones's" stayed with them for ten years, thus successfully and quietly integrating this previously "white" neighborhood.
In the early 1960s the Catholic diocese of Syracuse, NY organized a ten week educational program for its parishioners to explore the interracial issues confronting the area. Barbara, her husband, and one other lay person with selected clergy, were part of the Bishop's Committee which organized the educational program. On each of the ten nights a speaker or speakers presented a topic of concern. The 500+ participants were each assigned to a group of ten. The people maintained their original group assignments throughout the ten weeks. Each group had a leader and a recorder so that topics could be thoroughly explored. This was during a time of much interracial unrest, but Syracuse remained calm while many other communities did not.
On August 28, 1963 Barbara joined an interracial group of people on an all-night bus ride to Washington, D.C. to the Lincoln Memorial to participate in the March on Washington and to witness Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech. Unfortunately we still have a long way to go.
In 1965 and 1966 Ms. Gutmann and her husband served in the Peace Corps in a Public Health and Nutrition Project in rural, southern India. With the established Indian health center employees and with the Indian Medical Director they attempted to improve the quality of care, hygienic conditions, and nutrition. It was a demanding but rewarding experience.
In the spring of 1968 Ms. Gutmann was the spiritual retreat leader for the Episcopal Ministers Wives' Group of Central New York: "Being Present Where You Are".
During 1968-1970 Ms. Gutmann was secretary of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the newly formed Onondaga Pastoral Counseling Center. At that time she served on the Inner City Board of Directors, Syracuse, N.Y. and also on the Education Committee of Hillbrook Detention Home.
During the late 1970s and 1980s Ms. Gutmann was active on the advisory board of the nursing program at Daeman College in Buffalo, served on the Niagara Falls Regional Hypertension Board, served on the Buffalo Quality of Life Committee, and was on the Health Occupations Advisory Committee of the Medical Assisting Program in Santa Barbara. In 1987 Barbara contributed to writing the core curriculum of the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses. She has also been active with such organizations as the American Heart Association, the Onondaga Health Association, and the SB Fire Department's Fire Safety Program for Third Graders where she notably taught for eight years between 2010 and 2018. As a ten year member of Friendship Force of Santa Barbara Ms. Gutmann served as president and led two exchanges (tours), one to Chile and Peru and one to Brazil. (Friendship Force is an international program based in Atlanta, Georgia encouraging world peace by arranging home stays in participating countries for club members.) She is a Board of Directors Emerita of the Friendship Senior Day Care Center in Montecito, CA, since 1994.
Ms. Gutmann is now serving as a registered nurse with the American Red Cross serving in the local evacuation centers during emergencies such as fires and mudslides.
Currently Ms. Gutmann is also president of the Board of the nonprofit Neal Taylor Nature Center at Cachuma Lake County Park in the mountains above Santa Barbara. She has been a docent there for the past 22 years. The Nature Center consists of five rooms of exhibits: animals, birds, plants, history, and the geology of the area. Last year there were over 40,000 visitors which included many schoolchildren. Three years ago Barbara and her husband identified, researched, and developed a Living Bat Program. The bats (150-300+ of them) live in a bat box mounted 16 ft. above the ground. They emerge at dusk to forage for mosquitoes and other insects. Fifty to over 150 campers (and others) attend each free Saturday evening program in the summer. Ranchers are realizing that encouraging bats to migrate to their properties has the potential of reducing the use of chemical fertilizers on their crops thus saving them thousands of dollars as well as reducing the chemicals in our foods. It is true that bats can carry rabies. No one should ever touch a bat or its guano.
Since 1978 Ms. Gutmann has been successfully treated for four unrelated cancers. During chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer seven years ago, with resulting hair loss, she began wearing a red haired wig which she continues to wear. Her mantra is: "Push On".
Ms. Gutmann has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing, cum laude, from Niagara University since 1956 and a Master of Science Degree in Nursing from the New York State University at Buffalo since 1975. She is a certified school nurse teacher through Syracuse University since 1962, a certified public health nurse, and a certified AIDS instructor, and she has been a certified CPR instructor in both New York and California.
Married to James F. Gutmann, who is a retired computer engineer (Manhattan College, Syracuse University, Stanford University) since 1960, The Gutmanns have two children and three grandchildren. In retirement, she and her husband enjoy traveling, often in their motor home, exploring our country, Canada, Mexico, and Central America where they once drove to the Panama Canal.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to her profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, Barbara Lang Gutmann has been featured on the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.
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