School of Nursing recognizes advocate, former deans, directors in new Hall of Fame

The Clemson University School of Nursing recently honored eight individuals who have been champions for the program through the years since the school first began accepting students in 1968.

The school has established a Hall of Fame, and the first honorees inducted earlier in November included the former deans and directors of the program as well as a nursing advocate who chairs the Nursing Community Advisory Board. The Hall of Fame inductees’ names will be included on a memorial in Edwards Hall. School of Nursing Director Kathleen Valentine said these individuals have helped shape the School of Nursing into what it is today.

“In the words of former President John F. Kennedy, ‘We celebrate the past to awaken the future.’ We are doing this by recognizing our distinctive nursing leaders,” Valentine said. “We are recognized today as a National Center of Excellence because of the foundation these leaders built and their enduring legacy.”

The Hall of Fame Inductees include:

Geraldine Labecki

Dean Emerita Geraldine Labecki received her nursing diploma from Hartford Hospital School of Nursing, her B.S. and A.M. degrees from Columbia University and her Ed.D. from George Peabody College for Teachers at Vanderbilt University.

Labecki served as the dean of Clemson University’s College of Nursing from 1968 until her retirement in 1980. She not only began the undergraduate nursing program at Clemson, but was also the first woman to be named a collegiate dean at Clemson. Before her tenure at Clemson, she was the Assistant Dean of Nursing at Vanderbilt University and was a US Public Health Service Fellow. Dean Emerita Labecki passed away in 2015.

Mary Lohr

Dean Emerita Mary Lohr received her B.S.N from the University of Pittsburgh and her M.A. and Ed.D. from the Teachers College at Columbia University.

Lohr served as the dean of Clemson University’s College of Nursing from 1981 – 1986. Before her tenure at Clemson, Lohr served as a professor and dean at the University of Michigan’s School of Nursing and as dean of the University of Virginia’s School of Nursing. Upon her death, her estate helped to establish the Faculty Endowment Award for the School of Nursing, which is designed to provide faculty support to develop or maintain a program of research, develop and submit a research proposal for external funding or develop scholarly activities in the international arena.

 

Opal Hipps

Dean Emerita Opal Hipps received her B.S.N. and her M.S.N. from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. She received her Ed.D. from the University of South Carolina.

Hipps served as the College of Nursing dean from 1987 – 1993. Before coming to Clemson, Dean Emerita Hipps taught at UNC – Chapel Hill, Watts Hospital School of Nursing in Durham, NC and Greenville General Hospital School of Nursing and served as dean at Baylor University’s School of Nursing. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and has a long-standing record of public service, devoting her time to programs like Hospice of the Foothills and Pickens County Free Medical Clinic.

Barbara N. Logan

Barbara Logan received her A.A. from Bronx Community College in New York, her B.S.N. from Loyola University in Chicago and her M.S. in nursing from University of Illinois at Chicago. She earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Logan is currently a professor emeritus in the School of Nursing and was the school’s director from 1993-2003. She also serves as a consultant for Clemson University’s Center for Research on Health Disparities. She served as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nurses and a Fellow of the American Nurses Association Minority Fellowship Program.

Kaye Ann Herth

Dean Emerita Kaye Herth received her B.S.N. from Northern Illinois University, her M.S.N. from the University of Minnesota and her Ph.D. in nursing from Texas Woman’s University. She also earned a post-graduate management and leadership certificate from Harvard University and a diploma in nursing from St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing in Wisconsin.

Herth served as the Director of Clemson University’s School of Nursing from 2004 – 2005. She then served as Dean of the College of Allied Health and Nursing at Minnesota State University, Mankato until 2010. In 2011, she was one of 15 nurse researchers worldwide to be inducted into the Honor Society of Nursing Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame. She is a highly respected international scholar on hope and has garnered more than 2 million dollars in grant funding.

Rosanne H. Pruitt

Rosanne Pruitt received her B.S. in nursing from Emory University, her M.N. from the University of South Carolina with a community health and family nurse practitioner concentration, and her Ph.D. in nursing and health policy from the University of Maryland.

Pruitt currently serves as a nursing professor at Clemson University. Before returning to her faculty position in 2014, she served as the director of the School of Nursing and as associate dean of the College of Health, Education and Human Development for ten years. In addition to her leadership positions, Pruitt was also named a Clemson University Service Learning Fellow and received the Elliott Award for Outstanding Service to Off-Campus, Distance and Continuing Education.

Margaret Ann Wetsel

Margaret Ann Wetsel received her B.S.N. from Indiana University at the Medical Center in Indianapolis, her M.S. in nursing from The Ohio State University and her Ph.D. in nursing from the University of Texas at Austin.

Wetsel currently serves as an associate director and associate professor of Clemson University’s School of Nursing. She began as a Clemson nursing faculty member in 1985 and, since then, has held numerous leadership positions, including coordinating the School of Nursing’s graduate program, leading the RN/BS Completion Program and serving as interim director from 2014 – 2016. She also maintains an active research agenda and has been the principal investigator for more than $4.5 million in external research funding.

Peggy Gardner Deane

Peggy Gardner Deane received her registered nurse diploma from Greenville General Hospital School of Nursing and her M.B.A. from Washington University. She received honorary Doctorate of Humanities degrees from both Clemson University and Anderson University. Additionally, Deane is a University of Pennsylvania Wharton Fellow, received a Nurse Administrative Certificate from Duke University and attended Furman University.

Deane, former senior vice president for patient care services at AnMed Health, is a longtime Clemson Nursing advocate. In addition to decades of service to her community, she also established the AnMed Health Nursing Scholarship, which now bears her name. She chairs the community advisory board for Clemson’s School of Nursing and has been on the advisory board for the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences.