Scholarship established to encourage more diversity in nurse-midwifery

After 26 years as a member of the School of Nursing faculty advancing nurse-midwifery education, Professor Melissa Avery, PhD, CNM, FACNM, FAAN, announced her upcoming retirement in the fall of 2021. As she prepares to retire, she continues to make an impact on students — even on those not yet enrolled — with the creation of the Midwifery Impact Scholarship.

The fund was established by Avery and her husband Randy Schnoes to advance efforts to build a school community that better reflects the diversity found in the communities with which it partners. The Midwifery Impact Scholarship will be awarded to full-time students seeking a degree with a specialization in midwifery.

“The School of Nursing has been a part of our lives for more than three decades,” says Avery. “It is our pleasure to partner with the school to contribute to the success of our students and impact the diversity of the profession.”

Avery served as the school’s first coordinator of the Doctor of Nursing Practice nurse-midwifery specialty, which is ranked second in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.

Her research focus examined prenatal care practices to enhance maternal confidence for physiologic labor and birth as well as vaginal birth after cesarean birth. Recently, she was co-principal investigator on a nationally-funded project to develop and implement an interprofessional education curriculum for graduate midwifery students and obstetrics and gynecology residents.

Avery is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health and is a past president of the American College of Nurse-Midwives. She was named a Fellow in both the American College of Nurse-Midwives and the American Academy of Nursing.

Those interested in recognizing Avery’s contributions to midwifery and nursing education should contact Maria McLemore at mmclemor@umn.edu.