F r o m t h e D e a n
Dean Marla Salmon
Dr. Carolyn Constantin (right) is the
first person to receive a doctoral
degree
through the School of
Nursing. Dr. Ora Strickland was
her dissertation adviser.
A Stellar
Journey
Carolyn Constantin’s
feet hardly touched the ground at graduation when she became the first
student to receive a doctoral degree through the School of Nursing. A
labor and delivery nurse and adjunct faculty member from Boston College,
Carolyn was drawn to Emory by its interdisciplinary approach to patient
care and research. Once here, she pursued her interests in women’s
health and bench science through her doctoral study of immunologic response
during pregnancy. All of us are overjoyed by Carolyn’s accomplishment,
which marks a special milestone for her and our school.
Carolyn began her journey with us in 1999, the same year that I came to
Emory. Like Carolyn, the school has come a long way in the last four years.
We built on our program strengths in oncology nursing, gerontology, public
health nursing, international nursing, and leadership through service
learning. We are fortunate to work in a state-of-the-art building that
promotes excellence in nursing education and research. We established
the Center for the Study of Symptoms, Symptom Interactions, and Health
Outcomes, and we rank 5th in the nation in NIH funding among private nursing
schools at academic health centers.
Today, our students and faculty participate in international academic
exchanges in Canada, Cuba, and South Korea and take part in the Migrant
Family Health Program, which is newly based at Emory. We are collaborating
with health leaders and educators in Kenya to strengthen that nation’s
nursing workforce, and we serve as the Secretariat for the Global Government
Chief Nurses Officers Group.
There’s more. Emory is one of only two schools (out of 683) to receive
a major gift from The Helene Fuld Health Trust. This gift is our largest
to date and provides $5 million to endow a scholarship fund that promotes
social responsibility through service learning for second-career students.
This gift would not have been possible without the leadership of Anne
Bavier, assistant dean for strategic planning and external relations.
This title reflects a new role for Anne, who formerly was our development
officer. That role now belongs to Kathleen Egan, our new director of development.
Together, they form an integral part of our leadership team that will
set new goals to propel our school forward.
Just recently, the School of Nursing moved up several notches in the 2004
US News & World Report rankings of America’s Best Graduate
Schools. We jumped from 32nd to 26th, which places us in the top 10% of
all nursing schools with graduate programs and 8th among private nursing
schools. Our nursing midwifery program was ranked 7th, tying with the
well-known programs at the University of Washington and the University
of California–San Francisco. These numbers attest to our excellence
and our upward trajectory. Most important, they reflect the tremendous
strength of our faculty, students, and staff. I hope you share our sense
of pride as you read about them in the pages of this magazine.
Marla E. Salmon, ScD,
RN, FAAN
Dean, Nell Hodgson
Woodruff School of Nursing