Endowed chairs are the University of Utah and College of Nursing's primary means of recognizing academic distinction, promoting excellence, and enabling the university to attract, retain, and honor distinguished faculty members. For the chair holders, appointment to an endowed chair signals recognition of both personal achievements and of the institution’s commitment to their fields of inquiry and teaching.
Endowed chairs are supported by gifts at two levels:
- Endowed Chair: $1 million level
- Presidential Endowed Chair: $1.5 million level
College of Nursing Endowed Chairs
Marla De Jong, PhD, RN, CCNS, FAAN
Over the past five years, Marla De Jong, PhD, has led the CON as Dean and the Louis H. Peery Presidential Endowed Chair. She has driven growth, championed innovation, and elevated the CON’s impact across education, research, and practice. Under her leadership, the CON launched a new curriculum aligned with national guidelines, increased enrollment in undergraduate and doctoral programs, and grew its faculty and staff. External research and scholarly funding reached record levels, with a focus on translating discoveries into practice. The CON appointed four endowed chairs and established a fifth, strengthened academic-practice partnerships with health systems, received initial accreditation for its Master of Science in Gerontology program, and expanded clinical practices across the Salt Lake Valley and rural Utah.
Through strong relationship-building, De Jong secured philanthropic support for scholarships, faculty and staff development, research, postdoctoral fellowships, family-centered care, and global learning. She enhanced the nursing college’s visibility by widely promoting professional awards, grants, initiatives, and achievements. Beyond the CON, De Jong chairs the university’s Center on Aging board, is on the editorial board for Military Medicine, and serves on the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Government Affairs Committee. She helped the university earn an Age-Friendly designation and serves in the Academic Senate, while her active involvement in university and professional events promotes collaboration, recruitment, and strategic engagement.
Due to the growth of the Louis S. Peery Presidential Endowed Chair, in 2000 the University established a second presidential endowed chair in the College of Nursing to be known as The Louis H. Peery Presidential Endowed Chair in Nursing Established in Loving Memory by His Son, Louis S. Peery, MD.
Past Chair Holders:
- Patricia Morton, PhD, RN, ACNP-BC, FAAN (Second Chair Holder, 2013-2018)
- Maureen Keefe, RN, PhD, FAAN (Inaugural Chair Holder, 2002-2012)
Lee Ellington, PhD
Lee Ellington serves as the Robert S. and Beth M. Carter Endowed Chair. In this role, she leads the Family Caregiving Collaborative (FCC), working with university, community, and national partners to advance support for caregivers. As the FCC’s founding director, Ellington has helped grow the program into a nationally recognized leader in health profession education, research, clinical practice, and community engagement dedicated to improving the lives of family caregivers of all ages and backgrounds.
The work of Ellington and the FCC team helped Utah be one of 10 states invited by the National Alliance for Caregiving to their 2023 and 2024 Caregiver Nation Summits in Washington, D.C. At last year’s summit, the FCC sponsored five Utah advocates who met with legislators to promote caregiver policies. Looking ahead, the FCC is taking the lead in hosting the 4th Biennial Conference on Caregiving Research in Salt Lake City in September 2026, drawing researchers, practitioners, caregivers, and policy leaders from across the nation to advance caregiver health and well-being.
Bob Carter grew up on a ranch in Nevada where he learned the value of hard work. At 18 he left home to attend the University of Utah, where he met his sweetheart, Beth, a native of Springville, Utah. Drawn to each other by their similar backgrounds and common values Bob and Beth were wed in 1941. Together they built a successful trucking business—IML Freight—raised a beautiful family and created a life of giving to those in need.
Beth Mendenhall Carter died on December 7, 1997. Upon the death of their father on January 23, 2006, Robyn and Thomas Carter established the Robert S. and Beth M. Carter Endowed Chair in the College of Nursing. Knowing how much their father valued the contributions nurses make to medical research, academics and critical needs, Robyn and Tom chose the College of Nursing to continue their parents’ legacy of helping others.
This chair will be a fitting tribute to their lives, their examples, their kindness and their generosity. The Robert S. and Beth M. Carter Endowed Chair in the College of Nursing will benefit the people of Utah and the intermountain region for many generations.
Past Chair Holders:
- Susan Beck, PhD, RN, FAAN (Inaugural Chair Holder)
Cathy A. Maxwell, PhD, RN, FAAN
Cathy Maxwell was appointed in 2024 as the Robert L. and Joyce T. Rice Presidential Endowed Chair in Healthy Aging. Maxwell, a nationally recognized expert in geriatric trauma and aging, leads interdisciplinary work at the college to advance research and improve care for aging adults.
Since arriving at the College of Nursing (CON) in the summer of 2024, She has focused her efforts on advancing the field of geroscience and science communication related to aging. Her pilot study at Vanderbilt University on mitochondrial fitness was published in JMIR Formative Research in December 2024. She has co-authored a total of eleven publications with one as first author, five as senior author, and three others as accepted or pending publication.
She led members of the American Academy of Nursing’s Expert Panel on Aging to develop a policy dialogue titled Ageism: Removing Stereotypes through a Geroscience Lens that was presented in February 2026. Maxwell coordinated membership of the University of Utah on the Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Robert “Bob” L. Rice was always a strong proponent of health and fitness. He opened Salt Lake City’s first fitness gym in 1952, which later became part of European Health Spas—at the time the world’s largest physical fitness chain. A passion for exercise was something he shared with his wife Joyce during their 58 years of marriage: staying healthy and active was an important part of their lives together. Bob and Joyce were also partners in giving, and together they contributed to the University in many ways, including a $1 million gift to rebuild Rice-Eccles Stadium, and endowed funding on behalf of Huntsman Cancer Institute Research, the College of Pharmacy, the John A. Moran Eye Center, the David Eccles School of Business, and the School of Music.
Even in the months before Bob lost his battle with cancer during the summer of 2007, it wasn’t unusual to see him riding his bike. Because of their dedication to healthy living, the Rice’s placed the $1.25 million Robert L. and Joyce T. Rice Presidential Endowed Chair in Healthy Aging in the College of Nursing. Joyce, who continues to stay active traveling and spending time with the couple’s six children and many grandchildren, hopes the gift will help others maintain their health and well-being throughout the continuum of their lives.
Past Chair Holders:
- Michael Caserta, PhD (Inaugural Chair Holder, 2010-2021)
Kathi Mooney, PhD, RN, FAAN
Kathi Mooney holds the Louis S. Peery, M.D. and Janet B. Peery Presidential Endowed Chair. She’s a distinguished professor and research staff investigator at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI), where she co-led Cancer Control and Population Sciences for 12 years. An international leader in cancer patient reported outcomes, technology-enabled remote symptom monitoring, and home-based models of care, her research focuses on cancer care delivery, digital health applications, and value-based care models that use both clinical trials and community-based approaches.
Mooney developed Symptom Care at Home, a telehealth platform that remotely monitors and manages patient-reported cancer symptoms and has received continuous funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for over two decades. In 2018, she launched Huntsman at Home, the first oncology hospital-at-home program for acute and subacute cancer care. In 2021, she expanded the program to three rural and frontier communities in southeastern Utah, reducing access barriers for patients living two to five hours from the university. In fall 2024, she received an $11.9 million Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health grant to expand and evaluate advanced technology-enabled cancer services delivered throughout these communities in innovative mobile vehicles.
Helping those who help others. That’s what Dr. Louis S. Peery and his wife, Janet B. Peery had in mind when they selected nursing as the focus of their generosity in establishing a presidential endowed chair in 1990. The gift permanently enriched nursing education and the nursing professional for generations to come.
Dr. Peery, a native of Ogden, was educated at Weber State University and the University of Utah, where he received his undergraduate degree in 1935. He pursued his medical degree at both the U and Rush Medical College at the University of Chicago. After graduate training in New Orleans, Dr. Peery served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He then returned to private practice in Ogden, where he became chief of staff of McKay-Dee Hospital Center and St. Benedict’s Hospital and served at various times as president of the Ogden Surgical Society, the Weber County Medical Society, and the Utah chapter of the Western Orthopaedic Association.
Dr. Peery was known as a true gentleman who was always thoughtful of others and supportive of his staff. “He respected us as professionals,” a former staffer once noted. “It was an uplifting experience to work with him.” He and his wife, Janet B. Peery, established five presidential endowed chairs: three in orthopaedic surgery, Dr. Peery’s own specialty, and two in the College of Nursing, as well as a visiting lectureship in honor of Dr. Thomas H. Caine, a U faculty member and Dr. Peery’s personal physician for many years. Dr. Peery, a compassionate and skilled physician, died in July 1996 at the age of 82. Janet died in 1999.
Past Chair Holders:
- Lillian Nail, PhD, FAAN (Inaugural Chair Holder)
Lynn F. Reinke, PhD, APRN, ANP-BC, FPCN, ASTF, FAAN
Lynn Reinke holds the Claire Dumke Ryberg, R.N., Presidential Endowed Chair in End-of-Life/Palliative Care. As a clinical professor and nationally recognized leader in advancing the science of palliative and end-of-life care for individuals with serious illness and their families, she develops and tests innovative nurse-led interventions. She also serves on national and international committees aimed at improving care quality and provider communication skills.
As director of the Family Integrated Healthcare Collaborative, Reinke tests family care models within health care settings. She’s currently leading a project to see if conducting standardized family caregiving needs assessments and support can be included in the routine care provided by the Huntsman at Home oncology program. In June 2025, she presented this work to more than 1,400 attendees at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. She was promoted to professor (clinical) in 2025, just three years after joining the CON, reflecting her rapid and meaningful impact. Her national leadership includes serving as Director and President of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association and Foundation in 2024.
More information coming soon.
Sara Simonsen, PhD, MSPH, CNM, FACNM
Sara Simonsen is a tenured associate professor and holds the Annette Poulson Cumming Presidential Endowed Chair in Women’s and Reproductive Health. A practicing nurse midwife and nationally recognized nurse scientist, she’s a Fellow of the American College of Nurse Midwives. Simonsen is a leader in community-engaged women’s health research, focusing on health promotion and disease prevention.
She is the principal investigator on multiple funded studies, including a $3.7 million National Institutes of Health grant to investigate sleep and cardiometabolic disease risk among Utah women. Other projects aim to raise awareness about health risks and promote healthy lifestyles for women who have pregnancy complications that could lead to chronic disease later in life. She also works with a national team of investigators studying care transitions after pregnancy in patients with gestational diabetes.
Simonsen is committed to mentoring the next generation of nurse scientists, working with undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty on a range of women’s health topics. Her mentorship has been recognized with the Office of Undergraduate Research’s Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award.
Annette Poulson Cumming is an alumna of the University of Utah and the College of Nursing, having received both a B.S. degree in Nursing and an M.B.A. In 2001, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University. She was an intensive care nurse and nursing administrator for eleven years before changing to a career in business and real estate. She now serves as Vice President and Executive Director of the Cumming Foundation.
Cumming served on the national board of directors of Planned Parenthood Federation of America from 1992 to 1997 and was a member of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund Board until 2003. She served as the board chair of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah and founded Planned Parenthood Action Council (Utahns for Choice). She has chaired the University of Utah National Advisory Council and the Salt Lake Airport Authority. She also served on the National Advisory Council for the Utah Symphony and Opera.
Cumming is currently serving on the Planned Parenthood Federal Political Action Committee and chairs the Leadership Council of Planned Parenthood’s Power the Promise Campaign. She is on the Ambassador’s Circle of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and serves on the Americans for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). In addition, Cumming is a member of the College of Nursing’s Advisory Council, the David Eccles School of Business National Advisory Board, the board of ACCION USA, a micro lending organization, and the Guttmacher Institute. The College of Nursing building is named in her honor.
Past Chair Holder:
- Patricia Murphy, CNM, DrPH, FACNM (Inaugural Chair Holder, 2004-2014)
Caroline Stephens, PhD, RN, GNP-BC, FAAN, FGSA
Caroline Stephens serves as the Helen Lowe Bamberger Colby Presidential Endowed Chair in Nursing. A nationally recognized gerontological nurse practitioner and researcher, she’s dedicated to improving care for older adults and their families, particularly those with complex physical and mental health needs. With more than two decades of clinical experience consulting in over 100
nursing homes, Stephens leads innovative efforts to make palliative care for older adults more proactive, accessible, and compassionate.
In the fall of 2025, she piloted post-pandemic refinements to her telehealth program, Improving Palliative Care Access Through Technology (ImPAcTT), in Utah nursing homes. The project included virtual geriatric palliative care consultations for residents and their families, along with online training and podcast resources to support families and frontline staff. Stephens also directs the Utah Caregiving Population Data Science (Utah C-PopS) initiative, a multidisciplinary collaborative that uses the nation’s only population-based, family-linked dataset to explore how families shape, and are impacted by, end-of-life care. Her Donaghue Foundation funded work with Utah C-PopS is informing rural palliative care initiatives across the state. As an educator, Stephens is advancing the pipeline of future scholars in family caregiving and population science. She helps lead the nation’s first Nursing PhD program founded on problem-based learning and serves as a lead subject matter expert on a $4.5 million national initiative supporting behavioral health in the country’s 15,000 nursing homes.
Three presidential endowed chairs at the University of Utah – in human genetics, the health sciences, and the College of Nursing – have been established through the generous estate plans of Mrs. Helen Bamberger Colby, who died in October 1997. Mrs. Colby, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, made plans in 1988 to establish a bequest to benefit the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, in recognition of and appreciation for the excellent medical care she had received through the years.
A daughter of Katherine and Irving Lowe, Helen was born in Salt Lake City in 1909 and graduated from East High School before attending the University of Utah. She was married not long after graduation to John E. Bamberger, a prominent member of the Utah financial community. Until Mr. Bamberger’s death in 1944, the two shared their lives in a treasured home on Walker Lane, one of the first homes constructed in that area of the city.
In 1955 Mrs. Bamberger married Ivan R. Colby, with whom she shared a lifelong love of animals. They raised champion Thoroughbred horses together on a ranch in Riverton, Utah, and raced and showed their horses throughout the West. They also raised and showed purebred dogs, and were active in the American Kennel Club and the Humane Society. The Helen Lowe Bamberger Colby Presidential Endowed Chair in Nursing currently supports a distinguished nurse scholar for the benefit of gerontological nursing research, scholarship, and teaching efforts. The University of Utah College of Nursing is indeed grateful for her foresight and generosity.
Past Chair Holder:
- Ginette Pepper, PhD, RN, FAAN (Inaugural Chair Holder, 2003-2018)
Julie L. Valentine, PhD, RN, SANE-A, FAAFS, FAAN
Julie Valentine serves as the Ida May “Dotty” Barnes, R.N., and D. Keith Barnes, M.D., Presidential Endowed Chair. She’s a nationally recognized leader in forensic nursing, and one of only ten nurses in the US elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, where she also serves on the Forensic Nursing Consensus Body.
Valentine is an ambassador for the Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research and has received multiple honors, including Fellowship in the American Academy of Nursing, the Education Article of the Year Award from the Journal of Forensic Nursing, the 2024 Nurse Researcher Award from the Utah Organization of Nurse Leaders, and the Beacon of Hope Award from the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Her research focuses on issues related to sexual and gender-based violence, sexual assault facilitated by dating apps, trauma-informed dental care, and the Start by Believing campaign. She has been awarded a $525,000 grant from the National Institute of Justice and an interdisciplinary grant from the University of Utah. Valentine disseminates her work through multiple publications, national presentations, and service on a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee.
Ida May “Dotty” Barnes was born April 8, 1905, in Idaho Falls, Idaho. She spent her earliest childhood in Richfield, Utah, then moved to Ogden at a young age. In 1923 Dotty entered the Nurses Training Program at Dee Memorial Hospital in Ogden, graduating in June 1926 and passing the state board examinations third highest in the state. She remained at Dee Hospital as supervisor of surgery until 1927, when she attended the University Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio to pursue a specialty in anesthesia. In 1928, Dotty moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa and worked at the Jenny Edmonds Memorial Hospital until returning to Dee Hospital in 1929.
Dotty married Dr. D. Keith Barnes on February 20, 1934. “Doc” Barnes was a lifetime resident of Kaysville, who served as a family practitioner in Davis County until he became the first director of the Davis County Public Health Department, a position he held for over thirty years. In 1986, Dr. Barnes was selected as a recipient of the Merit of Honor Award from the University of Utah. Dr. Barnes passed away in 1988.
Mrs. Barnes was active in community affairs, the Davis County Medical Auxiliary, Kaysville Art Club, Kaysville Bridge Club, and the Bay View Literary Club. She and her husband were avid sports fans and supporters of Davis High School and the University of Utah. Dotty enjoyed working in her yard and rose garden. She also served as an honorary member of the Health Sciences Council as a result of her outstanding support of the Health Sciences. Mrs. Barnes passed away in 1998.
Keith and Dotty have been wonderful examples to all in the health care field as providers of nursing and medical care. Their dedication to the betterment of higher education in medicine has further been exemplified with the establishment of the latest presidential endowed chair and scholarship fund.
Dotty’s dear friends, Meg and the late “Buss” Williams, were instrumental in implementing the wishes of the Barnes’ pertaining to the College of Nursing. Their goal was to ensure that the funds from the Barnes’ estate went toward assisting as many students as possible. The money from the endowed chair is used to improve nursing care, treatment, teaching, research and new equipment. Through these generous gifts, Keith and Dotty Barnes will continue to enrich and touch the lives of many for generations to come.
Past Chair Holders:
- Janice Morse, PhD, RN, FAAN (Second Chair Holder, 2007-2020)
- Linda Amos, EdD, FAAN (Inaugural Chair Holder, 2000-2006)
Rebecca Wilson, PhD, RN
Rebecca Wilson serves as the Frederick Q. Lawson Excellence in Teaching Endowed Chair, where she advances teaching excellence by bringing new educational insights to faculty and supporting scholarship in teaching and learning. She directs the College of Nursing’s Excellence in Education program, leads the Success Academy to onboard faculty new to academic teaching, and mentors faculty engaged in educational scholarship.
Wilson’s recent milestones include chairing a symposium on the design and evaluation of master’s-level capstone courses at the American Educational Research Association conference in April 2025, with a manuscript in development from this work. She also completed a study on using the Community of Inquiry framework to teach social determinants of health in an online environment, presented at the National League for Nursing Education Summit in September 2024, with a related manuscript currently under review. Looking ahead, Wilson is leading a collaborative effort to describe and strengthen the College of Nursing’s culture of educational scholarship, expanding opportunities for faculty interested in this area.
More information coming soon.
Janet Q. Lawson Endowed Chair in Nursing
The University of Utah College of Nursing is seeking an established and visionary educator and scholar to serve as the Janet Q. Lawson Endowed Chair in Nursing. The ideal candidate will provide visionary leadership in nursing education by promoting innovative, evidence-based teaching methods that enhance student success and prepare graduates to become future leaders in healthcare. This role requires a candidate who stays at the forefront of educational trends, designs high-quality curricula, and creates supportive learning environments that foster both academic and professional success for students. The role facilitates alignment with accreditation standards and essential nursing competencies while supporting faculty development and mentoring initiatives. The position also drives educational scholarship, builds strategic partnerships, and enhances the institution’s reputation through research and national engagement. Active collaboration with academic leadership supports continuous quality improvement and excellence across all nursing programs.
L. S. Skaggs Presidential Endowed Chair in Acute and Critical Care Nursing
The University of Utah College of Nursing seeks an established, visionary nurse scientist to become the holder of the L. S. Skaggs Presidential Endowed Chair in Acute and Critical Care Nursing (est. 2025). The Chair is supported by an endowment honoring Leornard Samuel “Sam” Skaggs, Jr., entrepreneur and philanthropist. The L. S. Skaggs Presidential Chair in Nursing will lead a robust, funded program of research in acute and critical care nursing, dedicating the majority of their time to making scientific discoveries, advancing evidence-based practices, securing external funding, and contributing to the scientific community through high-impact publications and interdisciplinary collaboration.
You can help the College of Nursing continue to progress with even a small contribution.
Devon Barnes
Director of Advancement
(801) 581-4244
devon.barnes@utah.edu