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Linda Rodman ’73 GRD ’75 donated $ 6 million to the School of Nursing, creating a new post of Professor of Gerontology.
Julia Brun
Journalist
Yale Daily News
Linda Rodman ’73 GRD ’75 and her husband Larry Rodman ENV ’16 donated $ 6 million to the Yale School of Nursing this summer to create a new full-time faculty position in Gerontology or the Study of Aging.
Rodman’s donation is the largest donation the school has received since its founding in 1923. According to School of Nursing Dean Ann Kurth, the school will launch a national search to hire a professor specializing in gerontology. She added that the process will include input from a hiring committee, interviews with faculty and various employment discussions. Although Kurth did not specify a timeline, she said the school will fill the position when it finds the “best person” to join the nursing school community.
“This new endowed faculty position will complement the school’s strong strength in gerontological nursing and establish a secure future for research and teaching to produce new generations of nurse practitioners and nurse scientists to provide care. based on evidence to the country’s aging population, ”Kurth said in a statement. nursing school press article the announcement of the donation. “We are deeply grateful for Linda’s attention to this growing field and are committed to setting the standard for nursing expertise at this stage of life.
According to Kurth, about 10% of applicants to nursing schools are interested in gerontology, whether in acute care or primary care specialties. She added that about two dozen nursing school students enroll in these specialties each year, and nursing school doctoral students also conduct research in gerontology.
Rodman said gerontology is especially important as baby boomers age and approach retirement age. She pointed out that healthcare consulting firm Mercer estimates that by 2025, the United States will face a collective shortage of approximately 500,000 home health aides, 100,000 licensed practical nurses and 29,000 nurse practitioners. .
“There is a tsunami of people entering their golden years now and not focusing enough on themselves,” Rodman said in the nursing school article. “A significant part of the burden of caring for this elderly population will be nurses, and we wanted to allow Yale to be at the forefront of meeting this urgent need. “
Nurses specializing in gerontology must receive special training to meet the needs of the elderly, who are more vulnerable to accidents, chronic diseases and neurodegenerative diseases. Nurses help treat their patients ‘chronic illnesses, as well as their patients’ changing metabolic responses to medications and treatments that accompany advanced age.
Kurth told the News that climate change is wreaking havoc on aging populations, making people more vulnerable to heat waves and food insecurity.
“This perspective of ‘aging in the Anthropocene’ is one that we think Yale Nursing and the Rodman Chair can uniquely focus on,” Kurth wrote in a statement to the News.
Yale Program Director on Aging Thomas Gill referred to the news in 2015 conversation with filmmaker David Grubin on how an aging population has two major effects on the medical community.
On the one hand, it increases the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, which often require intensive medical care. Additionally, Gill explained that an aging population means healthcare professionals will have to deal with more complex medical conditions.
“Unlike a younger population, where a patient may have a single disease such as community-acquired pneumonia which responds quite favorably to antibiotics, things are much more complex in an aging population where patients may have a series of chronic diseases” Gill said said to Grubin.
The Rodmans have a long history of giving to the School of Nursing. They created an endowed scholarship in nursing school with a preference for students interested in gerontology and also supported the dean’s discretionary fund during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rodman, who was among the first cohort of women to arrive at Yale College in 1969, said in the nursing school article that Reggie Solomon ’98, senior associate director in the Development Office, helped bring the ‘introduce to the School of Nursing.
“We were looking for a significant niche, and [Solomon] suggested underfunded schools where graduates earn less money than Yale’s other professional programs, ”Rodman said. “After quickly reviewing the options, we realized that YSN would be a perfect match for our interests. “
The Yale School of Nursing was the first nursing school within a university to prepare nurses as part of an educational program rather than an apprenticeship program, according to the school’s website.
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