$1.1M donation bolsters nursing community partnerships

Inaugural UH School of Nursing & Dental Hygiene (SONDH) Director for Community Partnerships COL (Ret.) Stephanie A. Marshall, and her husband COL (Ret.) Dr. Charles F. Miller, donated $1.1 million to establish the COLs Stephanie Marshall & Charles Miller Endowed Director of Community Partnerships. This endowment will support the work of the current and future Directors of Community Partnerships, enhance student and faculty educational opportunities and fuel impactful community outreach.

“UH thanks Colonels Marshall and Miller for their tremendous generosity and commitment to building and sustaining Mānoa Nursing to ensure community partnerships,” said David Lassner, President of the University of Hawai‘i. “Growing our community partnerships enriches learning and prepares our nursing students for careers in a range of settings.” Lassner continued,

“This is a powerful example of how donors can profoundly shape and enhance our academic programming for the benefit of all who call Hawai‘i home.”

COLs Stephanie Marshall & Charles Miller are both 30-year veterans of the U.S. Army Medical Department. Following a distinguished military career, COL (Ret.) Stephanie Marshall, MS, RN, FAAN, retired as Deputy Commander for Nursing at Tripler Army Medical Center in 2005. An outstanding mentor to countless Army nurses, she was a key figure in shaping future leaders of the Army Nurse Corps. Following her military retirement, she joined SONDH as the first Director of Community Partnerships, where she retired in 2016 after serving UH for 10 years. In her role as the Director of Community Partnerships, Marshall engaged healthcare and community organizations to grow support for the school. She was instrumental in the development and funding of the UH Translational Health Sciences Simulation Center.

COL (Ret.) Dr. Charles Miller served for more than 30 years as a medical oncologist with the U.S. Army Medical Department and was chief consultant to the Army Surgeon General. Following his military retirement, he served for 9 years as Chief, Department of Hematology/Oncology at Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, where he continues to provide guidance on the implementation of the Hawai‘i “Our Care, Our Choice Act.” Dr. Miller is a past president and current board member of the Hawai‘i Society of Clinical Oncology. He is currently chair of the State Affiliate Council and a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

“It is our pleasure to make this contribution to the School of Nursing & Dental Hygiene,” said Marshall. “As a nurse, I know how important it is to give back. This is our way of showing our commitment to educating the future nurses of Hawai‘i.

Nurses are a vital member of the healthcare team and it is important to us to ensure that the community partnerships at SONDH continue as a core element of the school and grow as needs evolve.”

Endowed Director Named

Katherine Finn Davis, PhD, RN, FAAN, current Director of Community Partnerships, has been appointed as the first COLs Stephanie Marshall & Charles Miller Endowed Director of Community Partnerships. In this role, Davis will develop, manage and maintain innovative strategic educational and practice partnerships with the community.

Dr. Davis joined SONDH in 2016 and is responsible for partnerships and initiatives focusing on education and practice, evidence-based practice, interprofessional education and workforce development. She is committed to developing collaborative relationships between universities, healthcare systems, and government agencies to implement strategic responses to community and nursing workforce needs while engaging community organizations to inform program offerings and curricula in the school.

Like Marshall, Davis was inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Nursing. She holds a PhD in nursing and a master’s degree in nursing as a pediatric nurse practitioner from Emory University, and bachelor’s degree in nursing from University of North Carolina.

“Stephanie and Chuck’s donation is a true testament to their generosity and leadership as healthcare providers,” said Mary G. Boland, DrPH, RN, FAAN, SONDH dean and professor.

“After successful careers in the U.S. Army practice and academics, their legacy in Hawai‘i healthcare will ensure the continued success of the school and our students.”

Public Invited to Virtual Endowed Professors Event

In celebration of this generous private donation and in recognition of the four established endowments supporting SONDH, the school invites the public to a virtual event showcasing the appointed endowed professors.

Dean Mary G. Boland and the UH Mānoa School of Nursing & Dental Hygiene invite you to meet our Endowed Professors on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. The online Zoom Webinar will be held from 4 – 5 p.m. HST. Visit the event page www.nursing.hawaii.edu/events/meet-the-uh-manoa-nursing-endowed-professors for more information and to register for this free event.

UH Mānoa Nursing, the Nursing Capital of the Pacific, is the leader in nursing education and research in Hawai‘i with outreach to Asia and the Pacific Basin. It supports the mission of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa: to provide an innovative, caring and multicultural environment in which faculty, students and staff work together to generate and transmit knowledge, wisdom, and values to promote quality of life and health for present and future generations. The school offers bachelor, master’s, and doctoral programs. To reflect Hawai‘i's unique cultural diversity and heritage, UH Mānoa Nursing is committed to increasing the representation of Native Hawaiian and other underserved people in all nursing programs. www.nursing.hawaii.edu