Sr. Rosemary Donley

A Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Sr. Rosemary Donley, PhD, APRN, FAAN, came to Duquesne University School of Nursing in 2009, attracted by its commitment to social justice. She holds the Jacques Laval Chair for Justice for Vulnerable Populations in the School of Nursing.

Each year, she spearheads the McGinley-Rice symposium on justice for vulnerable populations, now in its eleventh year. These national symposia, The Face of the Elderly; The Face of the Immigrant, The Face of the Veteran, The Face of the Child, The Face of the Person with Mental Illness, The Face of the Person who has Experienced Violence, Person with a Disability, The Face of the Person with an Addiction, The Face of the Person who has been Trafficked, and The Face of the Person who is Homeless, awaken awareness and stimulate action on behalf of justice. A comprehensive description of these symposia can be found on the McGinley-Rice Symposium homepage. In October 22-23, 2020, the School of Nursing will present the Face of the Person who is Hungry Sr. Rosemary also teaches graduate seminars in health policy and social justice.

Early in Sr. Rosemary's career, she was selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow where she honed her knowledge and skill in health policy on Capitol Hill. In 1979, Sr. Rosemary became Dean of Nursing at The Catholic University of America, where--with a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation--she developed A Teaching Nursing Home. She also received a Nursing Research Emphasis Grant from the Division of Nursing. Seven years later, she was named Executive Vice President of CUA. She served as the chief operating office of the university for 11 years. She then completed a post-master's certificate in primary care and became a certified adult nurse practitioner.

Returning to full-time teaching and research, she served as the project director on four federally funded grants ($3.2 million dollars) to educate graduate nursing students, especially minority nurses, to work with vulnerable populations. With her colleagues, she prepared clinical specialists in community/public health nursing, immigrant, refugee and global health, and blended role practitioners, family nurse practitioners and community/public health specialists. She was also instrumental in educating nurses to be teachers of community/public health. Her research has been focused on assisting vulnerable populations, the aged and people with end stage renal disease, and in health policy.

Sr. Rosemary has positively influenced the nursing discipline and the health of our citizens by serving as President of the National League for Nursing and Sigma International Honor Society of Nursing. She also served as Senior Editor of The Journal of Nursing Scholarship. She has authored over 130 publications and chapters in books and has presented papers throughout the United States, Kenya, Spain, The People's Republic of China, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Guam, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Israel, Canada, Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. She has worked extensively with the U.S. Army and Navy Medical Commands; served on the peer review panel of Tri-Service Nursing Research group and as a research panelist for the Nursing Research Initiative Program at the Office of Research and Development, Veterans Administration. Sr. Rosemary was a member of the Department of Veterans Affairs' Special Medical Advisory Group (SMAG). She currently serves on the Catholic Youth Association's Board of Directors and as chair of CGFNS.

She has been honored with membership in the Institute of Medicine and the American Academy of Nursing. She is the recipient of seven honorary degrees and the Nell J. Watts Lifetime Achievement in Nursing Award. She was named a living legend by the Academy of Nursing, awarded the Elizabeth Seton Medal from Seton Hill University and the Immaculata Medal from Immaculata University. She was also named a Leading Lady, an Irish American, and a Cameo of Caring. Recently, she was named a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania by Governor Wolf.

• PhD, Higher Ed / Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, 1972
• MNEd, Medical Nursing, University of Pittsburgh, 1966
• BSN, Nursing, St. Louis University, 1963
• Diploma, Nursing, Pittsburgh Hospital, 1961
• Certificate, Primary Care, The Catholic University of America, 1998

• Vulnerable populations
• Social justice
• Health policy
• Nursing education
• Chronic illness in adults