Director of Athletics Suzanne Coffey (left) congratulates Nancy Cummings '81.

As a first-year, Nancy Madsen Cummings organized the women's soccer team, which was given varsity status in her senior year. A varsity athlete in both soccer and softball, she also found time to remain active in the Little Brother/Little Sister Program throughout her time at Bates.

Cummings earned her M.D. from Columbia University in 1985. Following an internship at Columbia-Presbyterian and a residency in the Harvard Combined Orthopedic Residency Program, she joined the staff of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital.

She has since moved on to orthopedic surgeon positions at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington, Mass., Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Mass., Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles, Wash., and, since 2002, she has been at the Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, Maine.

She has never strayed from her athletic roots. She has served as team physician for the Lowell Spinners, Worcester State College, Clark University, Berkshire School, Sequim High School, and currently at both UMaine-Farmington and Carrabassett Valley Academy. She is also the director of the clinic at Sugarloaf. Her husband of 15 years, Michael, is an attorney, and they have two children, Zachary (10) and Sarah (9).