Fulkerson named a McKnight Presidential Chair in Nursing

Professor Jayne Fulkerson, PhD, was named a McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Nursing. She is the first professor at the School of Nursing to receive the honor, which is among the highest honors at the University of Minnesota.

“As a McKnight Presidential Chair, you exemplify the qualities in teaching, research, and service that the University values most highly,” wrote Rachel T.A. Croson, executive vice president and provost, in the award letter.

Fulkerson has served as a full professor in the School of Nursing faculty since 2015. She co-leads the Clinical Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Research Education Career Development and Training Core, and she is an affiliate professor in the Division of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health. She also directs the School of Nursing Center for Child and Family Health Promotion Research.

Fulkerson’s program of research includes family-based health promotion in community settings, child and adolescent obesity prevention – particularly through the home food environment and family meals, research methodology, program evaluation, measurement, and instrument development.

She serves as principal investigator (PI) on multiple National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 research grants and has received continuous NIH R01 funding as PI since 2010. Her innovative programs for whole families to prevent childhood obesity by changing their home food environments are sought after globally.

She presents this high-quality, innovative research at national and international health behavior conferences both with competitive abstracts and as an invited speaker. She is also a leader in the field in the development and validation of tools to assess and evaluate home food environments.

Fulkerson is purposeful in her engagement with the community and works extensively with University of Minnesota Extension to move evidence-based research to communities to improve the health of Minnesotans.

In 2018, Fulkerson was awarded one of the first endowed chairs in the School of Nursing, the Cora Meidl Siehl Endowed Chair in Nursing Research.

Fulkerson earned a PhD in psychology from the University of Minnesota, a master’s degree in psychology from San Diego State University, and a bachelor’s degree in child psychology from the University of Minnesota.

In recognition of their excellence, the names of all McKnight Presidential Chairs and Professors are engraved on monuments that line the University’s Scholars Walk, which is a prominent pathway spanning nearly 2,200 feet that celebrates the research and classroom accomplishments of the University of Minnesota’s award-winning faculty, alumni and students.