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VOLUME 18, NUMBER 18
MAY 14, 1971
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
Takes Post July 1
Dr. Wilson Appointed Dean of Nurses
In meetings with the School of
Nursing faculty and student officers last
week, Duke President Terry Sanford
announced the appointment of Dr. Ruby
Wilson as dean of the school.
The appointment, subject to
confirmation by the University Board of
Trustees, will be effective July 1.
Dr. Wilson, a professor of nursing,
returned to Duke in February after a
two-year assignment in Thailand with the
Rockefeller Foundation.
She will succeed Dr. Myrtle Irene
Brown, who resigned from the deanship
last year. Miss Ann Jacobansky, professor
of nursing, has been acting dean while a
student-faculty search committee was
selecting Dr. Brown's successor.
Dr. Wilson's affiliation with Duke
began in 1955 when she became an
instructor in medical and surgical nursing.
She was promoted to assistant professor
in 1959. From 1963 to 1966 she was also
an associate in medicine, assistant to the
director of nursing services at Duke
Hospital, and clinical specialist in
nephrology.
Beginning in 1966, she took an
educational leave to work on her
doctorate in higher education, a degree
she received in 1968.
From that time until her return to
Duke earlier this year. Dr. Wilson served
as visiting professor and consultant for
the Rockefeller Foundation in
establishing a department and school of
nursing and assisting with other health
related programs at the Ramathibodi
Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok,
Thailand.
In a recent Intercom interview about
her experience in Thailand, Dr. Wilson
commented, "It was a challenging but
enjoyable experience and I was still
learning as I left the land of temples and
smiles."
ANNOUNCEMENT 0,4/—Duke President Terry Sanford, left, posed for this
photograph after his announcement last week that Dr. Ruby Wilson, center, had been
selected as the new dean of the Duke School of Nursing. At right is Dr. John
Blackburn, University provost who was recently named chancellor of the University.
(staff photo)
Dr. Wilson rejoined the Duke nursing
faculty as a full professor on February 1.
A native of Punxsutawney, Pa., Miss
Wilson received a diploma from the
Allegheny General Hospital School of
Nursing in Pittsburgh in 1951.
From 1951-55 she worked at
Allegheny as a staff nurse, assistant head
nurse, night clinical instructor and
supervisor. At the same time she was
attending the University of Pittsburgh on
a part-time basis and earned a B.S. in
nursing education, with a major in
surgical nursing, in 1954.
Following graduate work at San
Francisco State College, she completed
work for a master's degree in nursing
school administration at Case Western
Reserve University in Cleveland in 1959.
The Search Committee which
recommended Dr. Wilson for the
deanship was chaired by Dr. Frank
DeVyver, professor of economics. Other
members included Dr. Frederick C. Joerg,
assistant provost for academic
administration; Miss Gwendolyn Fortune,
professor of nursing; Dr. Mary E.
Shaughnessy, Dr. Willamay Whitner, and
Miss A. Sue Norville, all associate
professors of nursing; Dr. Juanita Kreps,
dean of the Women's College; Dr. E.
Harvey Estes, chairman of the
Department of Community Health
Sciences; Miss Wendy Hagstrom,
representing undergraduate student
nurses; Miss Eleanor Helmann,
representing graduate nursing students;
and Mrs. Frank Dalton and Mrs. Francis
A. Neelon, both representing Duke
nursing alumnae.