Six named to endowed chairs, professorships

The School of Nursing announced the naming of six endowed chairs and professors. Clinical Professor Mary Chesney, PhD, APRN, CPNP, FAANP, FAAN, and Professor Christine Mueller, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN, were named as Katherine R. & C. Walton Lillehei Chairs in Nursing Leadership. Professor Carolyn Porta, PhD, MPH, RN, and Clinical Professor Teddie M. Potter, PhD, RN, FAAN, FNAP, were named Pauline A. Vincent Chairs in Public Health Nursing. School of Nursing Foundation Research Professorships were awarded to Professor Wendy Looman, PhD, APRN, CPNP-PC, and Associate Professor Siobhan McMahon, PhD, MPH, GNP-BC.

“Chairs and professorships are a life blood of tier-one research institutions such as ours,” says Dean Connie White Delaney, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, FNAP. “They recognize and advance academic scholarship of the highest order and they serve as lasting tributes to the benefactors, often our distinguished alumni, who established them.”

In addition to providing faculty with the resources necessary to propel their research and innovations, endowed chairs and professorships are essential for recruiting and retaining the highest-quality scholars. They help create an academic environment that attracts the best students by giving them access to key learning, often years before it appears in textbooks.

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

The Katherine R. & C. Walton Lillehei Chair in Nursing Leadership was created in 2001 in appreciation for the role the University played in their lives and in the belief that education holds a society together. It is named after Katherine R. Lillehei, a nursing student in the 1940s and former School of Nursing Foundation member, and her husband C. Walton, a renowned Minnesota physician and pioneer of open-heart surgery.

Chesney is a nationally recognized nurse leader, APRN workforce/practice expert, and child health advocate. She led the Minnesota Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) Coalition’s successful 2014 legislative campaign to enact full practice authority for Minnesota’s APRNs. She has served seven appointments to Minnesota Legislative or executive branch work groups and has provided numerous legislative testimonies. She advocated for children’s health as Health Policy Chair and President of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Mueller, Long-Term Care Professorship in Nursing (Emeritus), is the senior executive associate dean for academic programs at the School of Nursing and the co-director of the Center for Aging Science and Care Innovation. She is recognized as a national expert on nursing home care quality and serves on the National Science, Engineering and Medicine Committee on Nursing Home Quality. She developed a model to provide nursing students with exemplary clinical experiences in nursing homes. Mueller is a fellow in the Gerontological Society of America and the American Academy of Nursing.

Pauline A. Vincent Chair in Public Health Nursing

The Pauline A. Vincent Chair in Public Health Nursing was established in 1999 to support faculty who are developing nursing programs and providing nursing services that focus on the needs of the community at large. The chair honors the legacy of Pauline A. Vincent, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, who was a public health nursing leader and a 1956 alum of the University of Minnesota master’s degree in public health nursing program.

Porta serves as professor and associate vice president for Clinical Affairs in the Office of Academic Clinical Affairs and as director of Global Health for the School of Nursing. She is recognized for her expertise in global health workforce development, public health nursing, sexual violence prevention and trauma-informed response, and young adult health promotion. With 100+ peer-reviewed publications, she has been inducted in the American Academy of Nursing, the National Academies of Practice, and the University of Minnesota Academy of Excellence in Clinical Practice. A first generation college graduate, she is committed to the success of every student everywhere.

Potter knows that nursing knowledge and leadership are necessary to innovate effective solutions to our most urgent global challenges. In 2019, Potter was appointed the first director of Planetary Health for the School of Nursing. In addition, she chairs the American Academy of Nursing Environment and Public Health Expert Panel, is a member of the coordinating committee of Columbia University’s Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education and is a member of the steering committee for the Planetary Health Alliance at Harvard. She is a Fellow in the National Academies of Practice, in the American Academy of Nursing and the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota.

School of Nursing Foundation Research Professorship

The School of Nursing Foundation Research Professorship was established in 2009 by supporters of the University of Minnesota to advance nursing science.

Looman is professor and chair of the Child and Family Health Cooperative and director of the Center for Children with Special Health Care Needs. As a pediatric nurse practitioner and family nurse researcher, her work has focused on systems of care for families raising children with medical complexity. She developed the Social Capital Scale for Families Raising Children with Chronic Conditions, which has been translated into four languages. She co-developed the Position Statement on Planetary Health and Family Health for the International Family Nursing Association and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Family Nursing.

McMahon is associate professor and a gerontological nurse practitioner whose interests broadly focus on promoting health and wellness across diverse populations of older adults, particularly those with fall risk. She serves as co-director of the Center for Aging Science and Care Innovation and chair of the Research Committee. She is also an affiliated faculty at the University’s Robert J. Jones Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center. Her research – developing and testing fall prevention and physical activity interventions augmented with technology – is grounded in interdisciplinary collaborations and is recognized nationally and internationally.

The recipients were honored at a ceremony in September.