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Retired
nursing prof shows caring nature through gift
By
Lisa Fleetwood
Betty
Sullivan describes herself as an everyday person, yet she’s
devoted her life to helping others and has found a way to ensure
that her interests will be supported far into the future.
Sullivan
recently enlarged an initial deferred commitment to WSU, funding
the Betty A. Sullivan Distinguished Professorship and Faculty Development
Fund through an insurance policy. By doing so, Sullivan will provide
a means for talented, well-qualified psychiatric/mental health nurses
to teach, research and practice.
Sullivan,
assistant professor emeritus, began nursing as a 16-year-old nurse’s
aide. With the help of scholarships, she worked her way through
college at WSU.
During
a lifetime in the psychiatric/mental health nursing field, Sullivan
has done it all — taught, practiced as an advanced practice
nurse and served two terms as interim chair and directed the undergraduate
program at WSU’s School of Nursing. She was at WSU from 1976
until 1999.
Through
her own experiences, Sullivan knows what a difference a professorship
like this could make to faculty who are following in her shoes as
teachers and practitioners.
She
decided to fund the distinguished professorship when her financial
adviser showed her a way to increase her donation through an estate
gift.
"Even
everyday people can make a difference through this kind of approach,"
Sullivan says.
Juanita
Tate, current chair of the School of Nursing, indicates the Sullivan
Professorship is "an important first" for the school.
"It
will greatly assist the School of Nursing in its ability to recruit
or retain faculty in the field of psychiatric nursing," she says.
Sullivan
is counting on that impact. She wants to support others who
share her love for the profession. Her contribution to WSU will
accomplish that for years to come.
"My
gift to WSU," she says, "is important to provide for someone who
truly has the gift of giving to other people."
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