PhD in Nursing Student Mary Whipple Awarded $100,000 Scholarship
July 16, 2015
University of Minnesota School of Nursing PhD student Mary Whipple has been awarded a $100,000 scholarship, the only such award bestowed this year by the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence.
As the 2015 Patricia G. Archbold Scholar, Whipple is recognized as a promising leader committed to gerontological nursing with a strong research plan and a dedicated mentoring team at her school.
Whipple’s research interests are in understanding how increasing physical activity and decreasing sedentary time may improve health, particularly among older adults with Type 2 diabetes.
Her interest in gerontological nursing grew from personal experience as a caretaker for her grandmother and an elderly family friend. Her work as a clinical research coordinator at Mayo Clinic and as a research assistant with the School of Nursing enabled her to further explore her interest in chronic conditions in older adults and their self-management through activities such as exercise. Her primary mentor is Professor Diane Treat-Jacobson.
Whipple aspires to conduct research and teach at a university someday.
Whipple is currently in her first year in the PhD Program, having completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing with the University of Minnesota on the University of Minnesota Rochester campus. She previously completed a bachelor’s degree in biology and psychology from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.
The University of Minnesota School of Nursing is home to the Minnesota Hartford Center of Geronotological Nursing Excellence, one of the eight founding centers nationally, working to address the critical need for nurses with expertise in caring for older adults by preparing outstanding nursing faculty to teach geriatric nursing in associate and higher degree programs in the Upper Midwest and tribal colleges.
The University of Minnesota School of Nursing’s 30 year-old Nursing PhD program has produced more than 150 nursing leaders who are working to improve health through education, research and in health systems. The school enrolls more than 950 students in undergraduate and graduate programs today and is ranked 19th among schools of nursing nationally in federally-funded research.
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