Amundsons named Richard Olding Beard Award recipients

Lloyd A. and his late wife Barbara A. Amundson, longtime advocates for accessible, compassionate health care, were named Richard Olding Beard Award recipients.

The Richard Olding Beard Award recognizes individuals, who are not nurses, whose foresight, wisdom and courageous advocacy for the nursing profession have led to better health care for all.

The Amundsons have supported initiatives that strengthen nursing education and expand opportunities for future nurses. Through their LA Amundson Ohana Foundation, they have awarded countless scholarships for nursing students throughout the country over the past four decades. The Amundsons were also key backers in launching a nursing education program at the Mayo Clinic, helping practicing nurses pursue advanced degrees. Their legacy is carried forward at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing through the Lloyd A. and Barbara Amundson Nursing Scholarship. 

The award’s namesake, Richard Olding Beard, proposed the establishment of the University of Minnesota School for Nurses to the Board of Regents in 1908, recognizing the need for higher-level education for nurses and for women. The school opened in 1909, becoming the first school of nursing based in a university. His pioneering advocacy for lifting up the nursing profession was expressed in his writings and speeches in which he espoused the “educated spirit of the nurse.”