Ruth E York, PhD, FAAN, RN
Dr. York, a highly regarded scholar and teacher, was a member of the standing faculty of the School of Nursing for 20 years. She was a respected mentor to students, as well as a popular and effective teacher. A leader within the School, Dr. York was the program director of the Health Care of Women Nurse Practitioner Graduate Program, and served as Chair of both the Health Care of Women and Childbearing Family Division and the the Health Promotion Across the Life Span Division (now renamed Family and Community Health). She also played a significant role in changes to the organizational structure of the School, which led to the creation of the new division in 1999.
Dr. York’s research interests include economic and family outcomes of very low birthweight infants, early hospital discharge of childbearing women with diabetes, mood disturbances during the childbearing cycle, and maternal factors relating to adequacy of prenatal care. Her work has had important implications for the health of women in the United States and globally, and she has worked closely with nurse researchers in India and Israel.