UVA’s first superintendent of nurses, Charlotte E. Martin was recruited by medical faculty chairman Dr. Paul Barringer. She had previously worked in the UVA Students’ Infirmary during a smallpox outbreak and Barringer, impressed by her service, asked her to remain in Charlottesville as the new hospital’s nursing superintendent. Martin supervised the outfitting of the facility with beds and equipment and initiated plans for a training school for nurses to staff it. She was regarded as a dedicated nurse. Less than a year into her position, however, she recruited a successor to handle its multiplying duties—the daily management of the hospital, its nursing service, plus its new nursing school—and duly resigned.

Florence E. Besley assumed the role of superintendent in September 1901.  A graduate of the Columbia and Children’s Hospital School of Nursing in Washington, D.C., she enrolled the training school’s first class, consisting of four nursing students. The two-year program followed the apprenticeship model. Students worked 10 to 12 hours a day in the hospital providing patient care and attended weekly medical lectures by physicians in the evening. Their work week was 6 ½ days. Both Besley and the students lived in the hospital to be readily available in an emergency.

Mary Jane Hurdley, a former superintendent of nurses at Lakeside Hospital in Cleveland, took over a training school of 30 student nurses, with new classes admitted three times a year. She lobbied unsuccessfully for a new nursing residence to replace their overcrowded living conditions in the hospital’s attic. In 1911, she introduced a senior dance for nurses that became an enduring social tradition. She increased the student monthly stipend from $5 to $7.50 and eliminated evening classes. Hurdley also expanded the curriculum with new courses in Materia Medica (pharmacology), Chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology, Nursing History, and Dietetics, and introduced new techniques in the Nursing Arts course.

In the accompanying image, Hurdley (center, front row) is pictured with the 1910 students.

Tabitha Grier became superintendent just a year after graduating from the UVA program and with work experience as an operating room supervisor. During her tenure, the hospital built a large addition, called the Steele Wing, which increased bed capacity to 200 and provided space for the Outpatient Department. 

In the accompanying image, Grier (far left) is standing in the hospital's operating room while a surgery is being performed.

Margaret Cowling was a 1905 graduate of the University of Maryland Hospital School of Nursing and arrived in Charlottesville with a decade of hospital experience. As part of her agreement to take the position, she brought a colleague, Isabele Craig-Anderson, to serve as assistant superintendent. Cowling revised the school’s admission requirements to accept applicants between the ages of 19 and 30, with a minimum education of two years of high school. New classes were admitted twice a year. She also extended the probationary period from two months to four months. New courses were introduced in Obstetrics, Pediatrics, Communicable Diseases, Mental/Nervous Diseases, Gynecology, and Venereal Diseases.

With the outbreak of World War I, Cowling was recruited to serve as the nursing superintendent of the newly formed U.S. Army unit known as University of Virginia Base Hospital #41 in France, and she resigned from her post in 1918. In 1920, Cowling resumed the superintendency, returning to a school in danger of losing its state accreditation status unless the nursing curriculum was revised. She also faced an acute student housing crisis that was undermining the school’s ability to recruit more students to staff the hospital’s newly opened McIntire building.

A native of Scotland, Isabele Craig-Anderson was a graduate of Leeds Hospital School of Nursing and came to the U.S. for post-graduate work at Presbyterian Hospital in New York. Hired in 1916 as an assistant superintendent under Margaret Cowling, Craig-Anderson was appointed superintendent when Cowling resigned in 1918 for wartime service overseas. Early in Craig-Anderson's tenure, in November 1918, student nurses petitioned the hospital board to remove her on grounds of incompetence. The board responded to this demand by chastising the students for their audacious behavior and publicly reaffirming their support for Craig-Anderson. 

Craig-Anderson left in June 1920, frustrated with the school’s apprenticeship system, which she said operated solely for the hospital’s benefit: students were assigned to specific physicians’ services instead of being allowed to rotate to different hospital units so that physicians could receive “good fees at the expense of the overworked students.”

A native Virginian, Josephine McLeod earned an undergraduate degree from Randolph-Macon Women’s College in 1903 and, in 1911, graduated from the Johns Hopkins Hospital of Nursing. She served as superintendent at several major hospitals before assuming leadership of UVA’s nursing program. She quickly implemented the New York State Board of Nurse Examiners’ recommendations to reduce the ten-hour student working day to eight hours; limit night duty assignments to one month; provide students with sick time; and institute student health records and annual physical exams.

She arranged for nursing students from other Virginia schools to affiliate with UVA for training lacking in their own hospitals. McLeod also established post-graduate courses for those seeking special certification as operating room nurses and nurse anesthetists.

McLeod succeeded in pushing UVA’s administration to build a new school and residence for nurses, making the argument that declining nursing enrollment would jeopardize the future expansion plans of both the hospital and medical school. McKim Hall opened in 1931. 

Claire M.J. Wangen was the first nursing superintendent with a master’s degree – an educational level that the hospital’s leadership considered important as it tried to gain national accreditation for the school. Wangen, a 1924 graduate of Johns Hopkins Hospital School of Nursing, had a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and a master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. In 1940, Wangen succeeded in getting conditional accreditation from the National League for Nursing Education.

Virginia Walker earned a bachelor’s degree in 1926 from Westhampton College of the University of Richmond and graduated from the Johns Hopkins Hospital School of Nursing in 1929. She held several supervisory positions prior to UVA, where her job title reflected a dual role: director of the School of Nursing and superintendent of Nursing Services. Walker took the position just months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. The U.S. entry into World War II led to the departure of many nursing and medical staff for wartime duty, and student enrollment steeply declined. In September 1943, the school earned qualification as a Nurse Cadet Corps school and received federal funds to construct and equip labs and classrooms as well as student housing, enabling an addition to McKim Hall. 

Roy Beazley was a 1930 graduate of UVA’s training school and worked in UVA Hospital as a night supervisor before joining the teaching faculty in 1936. She later earned a bachelor’s degree from the Cabiness School of Nursing Education in 1941 and a master’s degree in nursing education from Teachers College, Columbia University, in 1951. As director of Nursing Education and Nursing Services during the postwar period, Beazley focused her efforts on upgrading the diploma program’s educational standards to meet National League for Nursing Education requirements for full accreditation status—granted, finally, in 1948. The school’s lack of national accreditation had long hampered its recruitment efforts, and student enrollment had plummeted by almost 58 percent between 1945 and 1948.

Beazley also began to develop a baccalaureate program, which was approved by the Board of Visitors in 1949. A School of Nursing was established under the Department of Medicine until it could become an independent school with the same status as UVA’s other schools. But because UVA did not admit women in its undergraduate program, arrangements had to be made for prospective students to take the first two years of their academic program (i.e., the preclinical courses) at Mary Washington College or another women’s college. In summer 1950, twelve Mary Washington students enrolled in the new baccalaureate program. 

Randolph became co-director of the Department of Nursing Education with Roy Beazley in 1953, having previously served as a faculty member and later administrator of the Cabiness Memorial School of Nursing Education. A 1928 graduate of the Los Angeles General Hospital School of Nursing, Randolph had the distinction of being the first graduate of the Cabiness School of Nursing Education, in 1931.  She served in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II. 

A nursing faculty instructor from Iowa and a former captain in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, Bacon served as acting chair of the Department of Nursing Education from 1954 to 1956. She guided the conversion of the BSNEd program into the school’s new RN to BSN program. 

Oates served as the first chair of the Cabiness Memorial School of Nursing Education, which opened in the fall of 1928. The three-year graduate program provided advanced education to prepare individuals to be effective nurse administrators and educators. Oates earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing education and a master’s degree in nursing history from Teachers College, Columbia University. She led the school until her retirement in 1952. During her tenure, the school enrolled several hundred students and provided courses both on grounds and in Richmond and Roanoke through the University’s Extension Division. About 85 students graduated with a bachelor’s of science degree in nursing education. The Cabiness program is credited with paving the way for nursing education to ultimately become an academic unit of UVA.  

Randolph was a 1928 graduate of the Los Angeles General Hospital School of Nursing and  had the distinction of being the first graduate of the Cabiness School of Nursing Education, in 1931. She returned to the school in 1946 as a faculty member and later administrator after serving in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II. 

Tyson, the first dean of the School of Nursing, graduated in 1943 from the Baltimore Hospital for Women School of Nursing and earned both a BSNEd in 1953 and an MA in 1956 from the University of Maryland School of Nursing. Tyson upgraded the curriculum and recruited faculty with advanced nursing degrees from outside UVA to diversify and strengthen the school. She also encouraged faculty to pursue additional education.

Under Tyson, several school policies that had been entrenched since 1901 were overturned: the ban against students marrying and the ban against admitting male applicants. In 1959, she sought permission, unsuccessfully, to phase out the diploma program in favor of one undergraduate degree program. The hospital was dependent on diploma nurses for clinical services; they provided nearly fulltime patient care (33 hours per week) on the wards and were in even greater demand with the newly constructed 477-bed hospital (built in 1961).

With the availability of new federal funding for nursing education in the 1960s, Tyson began preparing for the creation of a graduate division of nursing education. After a year’s leave to complete a doctorate in nursing education, Tyson returned as dean in 1962. 

Baber was a 1940 graduate of the UVA diploma program and a 1950 graduate of the Cabaniss Memorial School of Nursing Education. She joined the nursing faculty in 1955, having served three years in the U.S. Navy Nuse Corps during World War II.

Baber became acting dean during Margaret Tyson’s one-year sabbatical for doctoral studies, and again when Tyson resigned several years later.  She continued the school’s drive to recruit academically strong faculty and staff. Baber also worked to increase the salaries of registered nurses. In 1961, employment benefits at UVA were so inadequate that the hospital was unable to attract or retain a sufficient staff of professional nurses to keep open its beds.

A 1946 diploma graduate of Chicago’s Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing, Lohr was appointed dean at the rank of full professor. She earned a BSN in 1949 from the University of Pittsburgh, and an MA (1951) and EdD (1962) from Teacher’s College, Columbia University. Lohr hired more faculty with doctoral-level degrees, a strategy that enabled the school to obtain federal funding through the 1964 Nurse Training Act for student scholarships, loan support, and improvements to its educational facilities. Lohr oversaw the closure of the diploma program in 1968. Also during her tenure, the school launched a master’s degree program in nursing in 1972 and built McLeod Hall, a five-story nursing education and research building.

In the accompany image, Lohr (center) attends the 1968 diploma class graduation with Hospital Director John M. Stacey (left) and John Harlan, assistant vice president for Allied Health Affairs (right).

A 1945 graduate of the University of Portland School of Nursing, Verhonick had a 23-year career with the U.S. Army Nurse Corps before joining UVA’s faculty in 1968. A nurse researcher, Verhonick had an MA and EdD from Teachers College, Columbia University, and was appointed as the school’s first director of research. She served as acting dean upon Mary Lohr’s sudden resignation in 1972. In recognition of her research contributions to the profession, the school inaugurated a research conference in her name.

In the accompanying image, Verhonick (right) instructs a nursing student in laboratory research skills.

An Illinois native, Rose Marie Chioni was a 1953 graduate of St. Francis Hospital of Nursing in Peoria, Ill. She earned a BSNEd from the University of Minnesota in 1956, an MA in nursing from the University of Chicago in 1958, and a PhD in higher education from Ohio State University in 1964. A well-regarded teacher and administrator, Chioni had served as an associate and acting dean at the University of Wisconsin prior to UVA. During Chioni’s tenure, the school’s master’s degree program and nurse practitioner certificate programs greatly expanded. The doctoral nursing program was introduced in 1982. At the undergraduate level, student enrollment also boomed.

A 1971 graduate of UVA’s BSN program and a 1974 graduate of its MSN program, Raines received a PhD in nursing from the University of Maryland in 1987. The associate dean for academic programs under Dean Rose Marie Chioni, she was appointed acting dean when Chioni retired.

Jeanette Lancaster’s tenure was 19 years, making her UVA’s  longest-serving dean. An experienced administrator, Lancaster served five years as dean of Wright State University, Miami Valley School of Nursing prior to UVA. A 1966 baccalaureate nursing graduate from the University of Tennessee, she earned a master’s degree in psychiatric-mental health nursing from Case Western Reserve University in 1969 and a PhD in public health in 1977 from the University of Oklahoma.

Under Lancaster, the role of dean assumed a major fundraising component as state funding for the University continued to decline. Working with alumni groups, in particular, Lancaster surpassed campaign goals and raised additional funds that enabled the school to greatly increase the number of student scholarships, support faculty research, teaching awards, endowed chairs, and educational technology. New research centers were established, including the Center on Aging and Health (1990); the Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry (1992); the Southeastern Rural Mental Health Center (1992); and the Center for Complementary and Alternative Therapies (1995). In the early 1990s, three nurse-managed clinics in Charlottesville and Greene County opened. Lancaster also worked for more than a decade to bring to reality the Claude Moore Nursing Education Building, which opened its doors in 2008. The new facility allowed the school to increase both undergraduate and graduate enrollment, introduce new programs, and expand its research efforts.

Lancaster was the first dean of nursing to reside on the Lawn; she and her family lived in Pavilion II.

Prior to her UVA appointment, Dorrie Fontaine was associate dean for academic programs and a clinical professor at the University of California San Francisco. She also held associate dean positions and taught at Georgetown University School of Nursing and the University of Maryland. Fontaine received a bachelor’s of science degree in nursing from Villanova University, a master’s degree from the University of Maryland, and a doctorate from the Catholic University of America. 

Fontaine created a range of signature initiatives during her 11-year tenure. The Compassionate Care Initiative, created in 2009, was the first, followed by the Center for ASPIRE (2013), and the Center for Appreciative Practice (2017). She established an Office for Inclusion, Diversity and Excellence at the school in 2014, which launched the school’s Inclusion, Diversity and Excellence Achievement Initiative, known as IDEA. These new programs fostered compassion, resilience, and a healthy work environment; supported interprofessional education for nurses and physicians to train together; and advanced efforts for inclusion and diversity in nursing.

The school’s undergraduate nursing applications tripled during her tenure. Its CNL and DNP programs expanded significantly, and the PhD program also grew.  A neonatal nurse practitioner program and pediatric-acute care master’s program also were introduced.

Cipriano earned a nursing diploma in 1976 from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing, a BSN from American University in 1978, and an MSN in 1981 from the University of Washington. In 1992, she earned a PhD in executive nursing administration from the University of Utah’s College of Nursing. Prior to her appointment as interim dean in 2019, Ciprano was a member of the school’s research faculty. She had held leadership positions across a variety of academic and health-care organizations, including nine years as the chief clinical officer/chief nursing officer in the UVA Health System, during which time the Health System earned its first American Nurses Credentialing Center “Magnet” designation. 

Cipriano led the school through a period of unprecedented upheaval during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cipriano served as president of the American Nurses Association from 2014 to 2018 and President of the International Council of Nurses from 2022 to 2025.

A native of Denmark, Dean Baernholdt previously served as associate dean of global initiatives at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Nursing. At UNC, she also served as interim dean of research and was a founding director of the Pan American Health Organization/WHO Collaborating Center in Quality and Safety Education in Nursing and Midwifery. Baernholdt earned a doctorate in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania. She earned a Master of Science in Nursing in critical care and a Master of Public Health from Columbia University, a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Pace University, and a diploma in nursing from Bispebjerg Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark. During her tenure, the school has been named a “Best School for Men in Nursing” by the American Association for Men in Nursing and remains in the top 3% of American graduate nursing programs, and Virginia’s best, according to U.S. News & World Report.