The MSU College of Nursing celebrates 75 years since the MSU Board of Trustees approved the Department of Nursing Education in 1950. The story traces the college’s evolution from its first graduating class of 10 students in 1954 to a thriving community of more than 750 students, 9,500 alumni and 170 employees. Key milestones include the creation of expanded degree programs, the launch of research and continuing education initiatives, the establishment of nurse-managed clinical practice, major investments in simulation and facilities, and historic grants and gifts that continue to support nursing education and research.
While there are instances of students taking nursing courses dating back to the 1920s at Michigan State University through a partnership with Sparrow Hospital, it was not until 1950 when the MSU Board of Trustees voted to approve the formation of a Department of Nursing Education. This one decision set the groundwork for 75 years of excellence.
In the time since, the college has achieved numerous milestones and graduated more than 9,500 students, dispatching quality health providers across the state of Michigan and beyond. From its earliest beginnings to today, the College of Nursing continues to be a part of transforming healthcare.
The first graduating class of 1954 had 10 students and was led by founding Director Florence Kempf, who served as the only faculty member for the college’s first year. Initially located in Giltner Hall — which still stands on MSU’s campus — the department, then a part of the College of Arts and Science, shared space with the College of Veterinary Medicine and used nearby Olin Health Center for classroom space. Students participated in clinical rotations at various sites, including Children’s Hospital in Detroit, Holland City Hospital, Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Northville Psychiatric Hospital and the Ingham County Tuberculosis Sanatorium.
“Now I realize the pressure (Dr. Florence Kempf) and our instructors must have felt,” said the late Millie Heslip, BSN ’54, during the 2023 Alumni Reunion, which celebrated some of those earliest alumni. “Sometimes, I think they were about as lost as we were! They really only had one another and us.”
An annual report from the 1952-53 academic year applauded the young students for their choice and determination, despite some early obstacles.
“We believe that the students electing nursing as a major represent (in large part) persons with fine potentialities, motivated strongly to help others — in our opinions, superior young women,” reads the report prepared by Kempf.
Despite the difficulties of getting a young program off the ground, faculty and students succeeded and the department quickly evolved into a “school” in 1957, when it also started the forerunner to the RN to BSN program, offering those with an associate’s degree or diploma an opportunity to earn a BSN.
The ‘60s was a time of change both on cultural and college levels. In 1964, Kempf retired, and within a year, Gwendoline MacDonald was appointed director. The school also changed locations numerous times to accommodate its quickly growing student body, shifting from Giltner Hall to the basement of Morrill Hall in 1961, then to Baker Hall in 1967 and, in 1968, groundbreaking for the Life Science building took place.
Faculty drew an unexpected visit from police one night as they were cleaning out offices in Morrill in preparation for the move to Baker after they decided to discard an old mannequin in the parking lot dumpster.
“They carried the mannequin with no difficulty, but because its joints were not functioning properly, it was hard to manage the legs and arms; it took some creative maneuvering to cram all four extremities into the bin,” wrote former Dean Isabelle Payne in “Nursing at Michigan State University.” “Apparently, someone driving by saw the women stuffing a ‘body’ into the trash receptacle and called the police to investigate. Before the task of disposing of the ‘body’ was complete, several police cars with flashing lights and sirens screaming came into the parking area.”
That same year, the college received another — albeit more impactful and welcome — surprise when it was awarded a federal grant for $444,131 (the equivalent of $4.2 million in 2024) to develop a multimedia instructional system in nursing. “The Multimedia Project” included methods and materials for nursing students early in their careers, such as prerecorded audio tapes, slides, films, diagrams and more. In the end, the program was used by nursing programs across the country and was distributed by the publisher Harper and Row as “The Nursing Process.”
In 1971, the school moved into the Life Science building and welcomed Isabelle Payne as the school’s third director.
A year later, the college created a “flexible program in nursing to meet individual needs of minority students, who, without special assistance, have little chance of meeting the criteria” to be admitted and succeed in the undergraduate program. This program, called the “Minority Project,” offered tutoring, counseling and other services and served as a forerunner to many of the services the Office of Student Affairs offers today.
“The project’s design and delivery by knowledgeable, committed staff created a solid and highly successful foundation that led to future Spartan Nurses who pursued and excelled in various, and multiple, careers in nursing,” read part of a 2024 statement from ’74 BSN alumni Deborah Card (Smith), Katherine Hudson (Thurman), Diana Lawrence (Brownfield) and Gwenneth Simmonds. The group added is it of great important to continue fostering an environment that embraces diversity, equity and inclusion.
While the school was busy increasing access to students from different backgrounds, it was also striving to offer more to working nurses, having established the Division of Continuing Education in 1974. And in 1976, the school began its MSN program.
This era was also a time for firsts: The school received its first federally funded research grant, “Patient Contributions to Care: Link to Process Outcome” by Barbara Given.
In 1977, the school launched its first Family Nurse Clinician program, which was renamed a year later to Clinical Nurse Specialist; and in 1978, it started the study abroad program to London.
Come 1980, the school was growing and was finally ready to move out of the College of Natural Science, becoming its own college. Citing the curriculum content, budgetary and teaching needs, as well as the need to better recruit faculty, school leaders were able to persuade the Board of Trustees to create the College of Nursing in May 1980. However, despite that change, just eight months later, the board considered eliminating the college altogether due to a financial “crisis” at the university level.
“We work our butts off for four years — that’s worth something,” said student Jan Stirewalt to The State News at a protest in March 1981. “We want respect.”
Stirewalt joined other nursing students from MSU and University of Michigan in solidarity, as well as some faculty. Students in the early ‘80s were just as passionate as today’s.
“Students have taken the ball and rolled with it,” said Assistant Professor Deborah Zuidema at the time. “That’s the kind of students we have — they’re concerned.”
Students and employees protested outside the Hannah Building and Cowles House, working nurses marched through the streets bearing stethoscopes and bed pans and more than 7,000 people wrote letters to the board chair expressing their disapproval. Ultimately, in April 1981, the board declined to eliminate the college but did require some concessions.
That same year, Payne stepped down and the new college welcomed Gladys Courtney as dean, a position she would hold until 1989 when Gwen Andrew took on the role.
As the ‘90s dawned, and its status was sound, the college raced toward the start of the 21st century. In 1991, Kathleen Bond was named dean, and the college also launched its Nursing Research Center, led by Given. In 1993, Marilyn Rothert was named acting dean, a role that become permanent two years later.
The college also expanded its offerings this decade, offering distance-learning courses via interactive TV to broadcast courses to other communities, including Battle Creek, Grayling, Lansing and Muskegon. Additionally, the college launched a post-master’s program in 1994 and gained approval in 1999 to start a PhD program.
From a practice standpoint, the college established the MSU Community Nursing Center in the MSU Clinical Center in 1997. Two nurse-managed clinics provided healthcare for elderly patients in public housing. Today, MSU Healthcare runs the first nurse practitioner-led clinic staffed by college faculty in the Clinical Center, which offers care to everybody.
“We will truly provide wraparound care services by a multidisciplinary healthcare team,” said Ann Sheehan, the college’s assistant dean for clinical practice, at the clinic opening in 2022. “These particular services were identified to address some of the most prevalent challenges that threaten people’s overall wellness. As a result, patients will receive the highest level of evidence-based health care services.”
In another first, Given, in 2001, was named a University Distinguished Professor, among the highest honors an academic can receive at MSU. To date, she is the only college faculty member to earn that honor.
Early that decade, the Granger Simulation Lab opened thanks to a generous gift from college alumna Janice Granger and her husband, Alton Granger. The donation provided a space equipped with modern technology to ensure students were keeping up with industry standards. Thanks to a donation from Nancy and Jim Grosfeld in 2023, the space is still home to cutting-edge technology and features high-fidelity manikins that can bleed, sweat and cry; an interactive, immersive room that is the largest of its kind in North America; and birthing suites.
In 2004-05, the college started its all-online RN to BSN and MSN Education programs, and an accelerated BSN program began in 2006, which is also when Mary Mundt was appointed dean.
As the decade closed, the college received significant gifts from the National Institutes of Health and Bernadette (Bott) Marquez, BSN ’80, and Timothy Marquez to build a new home for nursing, which would open in 2012.
“As an operating room nurse for more than 25 years, I have witnessed firsthand the severity of the nursing shortage,” said Bernadette in 2008. “I want to ensure that quality nursing care is available for all of us in our time of need.”
In the years since, the College of Nursing has moved along at warp speed, ushering in a flurry of developments, new leaders and grants.
For example, the Bott Building for Nursing Education and Research opened in 2012, and newly expanded, configured and outfitted sim lab spaces — including birthing rooms and manikins — now line the first floor of the Life Science B-wing.
Regarding new leaders, the college welcomed deans Randolph F.R. Rasch (2015) and Leigh Small (2022) and reaffirmed its commitment to diversity by hiring Krista Walker as the inaugural assistant dean for college diversity, equity and inclusion. Meanwhile, the college brought on its first endowed professor, Angela Chen, in 2023, a move made possible thanks to a generous gift from McLaren Greater Lansing.
Another gift in 2023 — $5.3 million from NIH — also became the largest grant for a single researcher in the college’s history, awarded to Professor Jiying Ling to increase behavioral well-being in preschool age children.
“This novel, timely and theory-driven food-body-mind intervention addresses the national emergency of mental health crises in early childhood,” said Ling in 2023.
The College of Nursing has come a long way in 75 years. What began with an inaugural graduating class of 10 students is now a thriving community with more than 750 current students, 9,500 alumni, 170 employees, millions of dollars in annual research funding and more than 90 live continuing education sessions in 2024.
“The MSU College of Nursing is so proud of our students who have graduated and become Spartan Nurses. We have made an indelible mark on the nursing profession, creating a legacy of more than 75 years,” said Small. “We have led the way in transforming healthcare through research, practice and education and look forward to continuing that legacy of excellence for another 75 years.”