The N. Jean Bushman Endowed Chair was the first endowed chair at the Seattle University College of Nursing. The fund was established in 1990 when President William Sullivan accepted a stock gift worth $10,000 from Jean Bushman. She was absolutely passionate about starting an endowed chair in nursing. Over the years with contributions of colleagues, alumni, and friends of nursing the endowment grew and has now reached a point where there are sufficient funds to endow two chairs in the College of Nursing.
Pictured L to R: Jean Bushman, Elieen Ridgway, Patricia Puchsel
Ms. Bushman taught in the College of Nursing for 35 years before becoming faculty emerita in 1995. Her enduring legacy enables the College of Nursing to strengthen our capacity to ensure teaching, research, and practice excellence.
Dr. Wojnar focuses her research, practice, and policy work on care of underserved and diverse families and making sure that the care received by all is accessible, of the highest quality, and culturally relevant. Clinical populations she has worked with include the LGBTQ community (especially around childbearing experiences), Somali families, and breastfeeding women. She has received funding from the Sinegal Foundation, Better Way Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), Sigma Theta Tau, and the Barlow Foundation. As an RWJF Executive Nurse Fellow, she used that opportunity to study the role of nurses in primary care and co-authored a seminal paper on the topic; and gather national data on the role of nursing students in primary care. As a consequence of this RWJF Executive Nurse Fellow project, she was commissioned by the Macy Foundation and the National Academy of Medicine to write a white paper on the role of nurses in primary care. Nationally and internationally she is a board member for the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiner’s Lactation Education, Accreditation, and Approval Committee. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and serves on their primary care expert panel.
For more information about Endowed Chairs and Professorships at Seattle University College of Nursing, visit www.seattleu.edu/nursing/support/endowed or contact, Peggy O’Boyle Fine, Director of Development at 206-296-1896 or finep@seattleu.edu