School names new chairs, professorship

The University of Minnesota School of Nursing named two chairs and a professorship at a ceremony on Sept. 13.

“Chairs and professorships recognize and advance academic scholarship of the highest order,” said Dean Connie White Delaney, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, FNAP. “They serve as lasting tributes to the benefactors, often our distinguished alumni, who established them.”

Professor Jayne Fulkerson, PhD, and Professor Diane Treat-Jacobson, PhD, RN, FAAN, were each named the Cora Meidl Siehl Chair in Nursing Research for Improved Patient Care. The fund was established in 1982 to celebrate the legacy of Meidl Siehl and was a cornerstone in the creation of the school’s doctoral program. It was among the very first endowed chairs in schools of nursing to focus on research.

Fulkerson is director of the Center for Child and Family Health Promotion Research and an affiliate professor in the School of Public Health’s Epidemiology and Community Health Division. She served as director of the Nursing PhD Program and director of Graduate Studies prior to being named director of the Academic Health Center’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s TL1 Program. She is a national and international leader in family-based obesity prevention programs and instrument validation and has published more than 125 articles in academic journals. 

Treat-Jacobson is the associate dean for research at the School of Nursing and a member of its Center for Aging Science and Care Innovation. She is recognized as a national and international expert in the development and implementation of exercise interventions for patients with claudication from peripheral artery disease (PAD) and her efforts to improve outcome assessment for patients have led to the publication of the PADQOL, a PAD-specific quality-of-life questionnaire. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, the American Heart Association and the Society for Vascular Medicine.

Professor Fang Yu, PhD, RN, GNP-BC, FAAN, FGSA, was named a holder of the Long-Term Care Professorship. The purpose this professorship is to advance the science and nursing care of elders or children requiring long term care.

Yu is a national and internationally-renowned expert in aerobic exercise interventions in Alzheimer’s disease. A past editor of Nursing and Health Sciences, she is an editorial board member of several journals including the Journal of Gerontological Nursing. Yu served on the board of the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging and co-chaired a committee of the Minnesota Alzheimer’s Disease Work Group. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the Gerontological Society of the America.

Chairs and professorships at the School of Nursing

Cora Meidl Siehl Chair in Nursing Research for Improved Patient Care

Katherine R. & C. Walton Lillehei Chair in Nursing Leadership

Eileen M. Vinnes Kalow Endowed Chair in Children and Family Health

Pauline A. Vincent Chair in Public Health

Clara Adams-Ender Endowed Leadership Chair

Long-Term Care Professorship in Nursing

School of Nursing Foundation Research Professorship

Marie Manthey Nursing Professorship in Innovative Practices