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Donna Hathaway, PhD, FAAN, Appointed to Ruth Neil Murry

Endowed Chair in Nursing at

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

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Memphis, Tenn. (June 10, 2009) – Hershel P. Wall, MD, chancellor of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), has named Donna Hathaway, PhD, FAAN, dean and professor in the College of Nursing, to the Ruth Neil Murry Endowed Chair in Nursing.  Dr. Hathaway has led the College of Nursing as dean since August 2000, extending its national recognition as a change agent in nursing education.  The college is the leading producer of graduate nurses and nursing faculty in the region.    

“Having known and worked with Ruth Neil, I can say she would no doubt have agreed you are deserving of this recognition,” said Chancellor Wall.  “This chair was funded to enable future deans of the College of Nursing to continue the legacy of educational excellence started by Ruth Neil Murry.”  Murry became the first dean of the college in 1949, serving until her retirement in 1977.  As a trendsetting educator, her leadership was instrumental in establishing the College of Nursing as an autonomous unit. 

Dr. Hathaway joined the UT College of Nursing in 1984 as an assistant professor and subsequently was promoted to associate professor and professor.  During this period, she was also appointed as a professor of Transplant Surgery in the College of Medicine where she held a position as director of Clinical Transplant Research.  She has also served as director of the PhD program.

Dr. Hathaway has actively held positions in a variety of professional organizations; is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing; serves as a consultant to government, industry and educational institutions, and has served on several National Institutes of Health (NIH) review panels and workgroups.   She is also a member of the Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Executive Fellow 2002 Cohort.

Her research, which examines quality of life and bio-behavioral outcomes following organ transplantation, has been funded since the late 1980s and is widely published in professional journals.  As part of this program of research, Dr. Hathaway has sponsored several NIH grants that allow her to mentor junior and minority investigators.  In addition, she has mentored numerous pre- and post-doctoral nurses, as well as pre- and post-doctoral transplant research fellows.

Dean Hathaway received her baccalaureate and master’s degrees in nursing from the University of Missouri-Columbia and her PhD in nursing from the University of Texas at Austin.  During her career, she has held a variety of clinical positions working primarily in post-surgical units and has taught in all levels of nursing schools.

As the flagship statewide academic health system, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is focused on a four-tier mission of education, research, clinical care and public service, all in support of a single goal: to improve the health of Tennesseans.  Offering a broad range of postgraduate training opportunities, the main campus is located in Memphis and includes six colleges: Allied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy.  UTHSC has additional colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy plus an Allied Health Sciences unit in Knoxville, as well as a College of Medicine campus in Chattanooga.  For more information, visit www.uthsc.edu.

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