The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed significant gaps in health care reach and access. The need for health care professionals who can provide quality medical care across society—especially to underserved communities–has never been greater.
In response, Penn President Amy Gutmann and her husband Michael Doyle have made a $2 million gift to create the Gutmann Leadership Scholars Program at Penn Nursing. This program will expand access to nursing education and equip students with the necessary training and experiential learning opportunities to prepare them to become leaders in the health care industry.
“Philadelphia, our country, and the world desperately need more nurses and nursing leaders,” said Gutmann. “Nurses consistently rank among the most trusted professionals, and it is a trust eminently well-earned through their compassion, strength, and selfless dedication to improving and saving lives. Serving on the front lines of healthcare, they are heroes in the effort to contain and defeat the COVID-19 virus. They are also key to making high-quality health care both universal and affordable. Michael and I want to do our part to support the most talented and diverse nursing students who are eager to serve in urban and rural areas that need them most. We fervently hope that our gift will inspire others to join us in supporting Penn Nursing, the top-ranked nursing school in our country and the world.”
The newly endowed program will fund 10 scholars annually across undergraduate and graduate degree levels, creating new cohorts of nursing leaders at Penn who are prepared to deliver exceptional care locally and in communities around the world. The program will have immediate impact, launching in January 2021, with new scholars selected every year, in perpetuity.
Michael and I want to do our part to support the most talented and diverse nursing students who are eager to serve in urban and rural areas that need them most. We fervently hope that our gift will inspire others to join us in supporting Penn Nursing, the top-ranked nursing school in our country and the world.”President Amy Gutmann
Scholarship recipients will be selected by Antonia Villarruel, Penn Nursing professor and Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing, and a specially appointed admissions committee. Selection criteria will prioritize diversity, first-generation status, high academic achievement, demonstrated leadership potential, and an expressed desire to make a lasting impact in underserved urban and rural communities.
“The value of nursing has never been more evident than it is today as we grapple with the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism,” said Dean Villarruel. “When the World Health Organization designated 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, it affirmed the critical importance of nursing, while calling for renewed investments in nursing education and leadership. I am beyond proud and honored that Amy Gutmann and Michael Doyle are leading by example in the establishment of the Gutmann Leadership Scholars Program at Penn Nursing. It is an unprecedented demonstration of support for Penn Nursing and for nurses around the world.”
The gift from President Gutmann and Michael Doyle is part of Penn Nursing’s Innovating for Life and Living Campaign, which has helped the world’s top ranked nursing school raise the bar by increasing the availability of financial aid, bolstering its academic programs, and providing opportunities for nurses to turn their on-the-ground experiences into health care innovations that can have a substantial impact on outcomes and quality of life for patients.
Read more at Penn Today.
