The UT School of Nursing will create its first distinguished professorship from a $1.5 million donation from the Decherd family, according to an Oct. 15 UT press release. 

The donation will fund the Maureen Healy Decherd ‘73 Distinguished Professorship in Nursing, which will further the recruitment of faculty and provide financial support for the recipients’ research and students.

“Today’s nursing students will be uniquely trained for a range of global health problems … to a degree that previous generations of nurses simply were not,” Audrey Decherd said in the press release. “My hope is that this distinguished professorship will help support outstanding nursing faculty at the School of Nursing.”

Sergio Delgado, chief development officer for the School of Nursing, said the endowment will help support the school’s ability to conduct interviews and outreach to recruit highly qualified professors in their fields.

“Professorships are awarded only to fully tenured professors, who are expected to have or bring a certain level of scholarship and research to the institution,” Delgado said.  

Alexa Stuifbergen, dean of the School of Nursing, said a distinguished professorship at UT needs a minimum donation of $1 million.

“This first-ever distinguished professorship is a very generous gift to the school that we deeply appreciate,” Stuifbergen said. 

Delgado said the funds donated by the Decherd family will create an endowment that funds will be taken out of yearly to fund the research of their recipient. 

“Endowments are ‘forever’ gifts, and so this gift will outlive us all, as will the impact,” Delgado said.

Nursing junior Alexsa Gass said financially supporting professors in their research will foster a better learning environment for nursing students. 

“Medicine is constantly changing, so it’s important to keep up-to-date with the most current information, so funding research for professors will ensure that us students are getting the best education that we can,” Gass said. 

The Decherd’s donations also helped renovate the School of Nursing building, Gass said. Gass said the new classrooms encourage students’ learning.

“The renovated facilities are also going to impact students’ learning in a positive way by preparing them to be in a hospital with a similar environment,” Gass said. 

Stuifbergen said nursing education needs support because it is the largest health care profession. 

“Nurses are on the front lines in hospitals and community settings and know firsthand about the challenges in accessing and delivering health care,” Stuifbergen said.