Our History

Wesley Memorial Hospital and Training School for Nurses opened in Atlanta on August 16 after being chartered a year earlier by the Methodist Church. The 50-bed hospital and training school were located in the Calico House, an antebellum mansion located at the corner of Courtland Street and Auburn Avenue, one block from Wesley Memorial Church.

The first class of 10 students graduated from Wesley Memorial Hospital’s Training School for Nurses. Bertha Eckhart, a transfer student from Washington, D.C., was the first graduate in 1906.

Alberta Dozier (later Williamson) became superintendent of the hospital and director of the nursing school, serving in both roles until 1923. A member of the American Red Cross who was active in organizing the Emory Unit in World War I, Dozier was a strong guiding force in the early days of the nursing school.

Dozier changed the two-year training program to a three-year diploma program. Wesley Memorial Hospital Alumnae was organized, serving as the grassroots level of the American Nurses Association. Dozier insisted that all graduates become members of the professional organization.

Wesley Memorial Hospital and its Training School for Nurses moved to a new hospital building on the Emory campus. The hospital and nursing school were renamed Emory University Hospital and Emory University Hospital School of Nursing in 1932.

The first class graduated from Wesley Memorial Hospital Training School for Nurses on the Emory campus. During the 1920s, the U.S. government selected the school as one of only eight schools in the country to lead in the development of university-based education in nursing.

The Florence Candler Harris Home for Nurses opened next to Emory University Hospital. Italian Renaissance in design, the Harris Home for Nurses included suites for nursing faculty, offices, classrooms, laboratories, and living quarters for student nurses, who had been living in the hospital. Harris was a longtime volunteer with the Methodist Church, the hospital, and the nursing school. She had three brothers, including Coca-Cola Founder Asa Candler, who donated the land and $1 million to establish Emory University in 1915.

Julia Miller, a U.S. Public Health Service consultant, conducted a survey of the Emory University and Atlanta community to determine the feasibility of a school of nursing at Emory. In 1943, she was named director of the school and nursing service at Emory Hospital.

The Emory Unit was reactivated during World War II. The unit included nurses like Nina Rusk Carson 35N 51G, former dean of women at Emory and a chief nurse in maxillofacial surgery at the time of the war’s outbreak. Stationed in Northern Africa and then Europe, the unit established one of the military’s first ICUs in France. On the home front, Nell Hodgson Woodruff, a longtime supporter of Emory, recruited Red Cross volunteers for Emory University Hospital and worked there herself to fill in for staff nurses serving in the military.

The nursing school began to offer a baccalaureate degree program and was renamed Emory University School of Nursing with Miller serving as dean. The program required two years of arts and sciences education for admission, followed by two years of professional nursing education. Graduates received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree, part of a national movement to elevate the professional requirements and stature of nursing.

Nell Hodgson Woodruff presented the first Nell Hodgson Woodruff Award to Mary Hall 49N 62MN 83PhD to honor an outstanding graduating senior. (Hall later taught public health nursing at Emory and served as interim dean.) This began the tradition of the Silver Bowl Award, presented today by the Nurses Alumni Association to a baccalaureate student and a graduate student at graduation.

Ada Fort became dean of the School of Nursing, serving until 1976. During her 25-year tenure, Fort propelled the school forward in nursing practice, education, and administration. In 1972, she founded a nonprofit organization known today as Global Health Action, which trains health care workers in more than 70 countries.

The last diploma class graduated. Concurrent with the baccalaureate program, the School of Nursing continued to offer a diploma program until 1949.

The School of Nursing’s offices moved from Emory Hospital to the Bartholomew Professional Building on Clifton Road, the former site of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. Classrooms remained in the hospital.

Supported by grants from the Kellogg Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund, the School of Nursing began a graduate program leading to the Master of Nursing degree. It was the first such program in the Southeast. Also, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Nell Hodgson Woodruff to the U.S. delegation of the World Health Organization. The appointment was a testament to Woodruff’s leadership role in nursing. Years later, Marla Salmon held this role in 1995 before becoming dean in 1999.

The School of Nursing moved to “temporary” quarters in Annex B on the present site of Emory’s Goizueta Business School. The School of Nursing remained there for 13 years.

The length of the BSN program was increased from two to three years, making the total nursing program five years long. A visit by Mary Clark Rockefeller led to the organization of the Associates, a group of women dedicated to the promotion of the School of Nursing. The original group included Nell Hodgson Woodruff; her niece, Nell Woodruff Hodgson Watt (“Little Nell”); and Mrs. Henry Bowden, the first president.

Lt. Keith Howard Taylor became the first male student admitted to the graduate program.

Verdelle Bellamy 63MN and Allie Saxon 63MN entered the graduate program as the first African American students in the School of Nursing and the first full-time African American students at the university. Dean Ada Fort and Emory Board of Trustees Chair Henry Bowden fought valiantly to admit both students.

The Alpha Epsilon Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, the nursing honor society, was established.

Emory’s Board of Trustees renamed the School of Nursing in honor of Nell Hodgson Woodruff.

In January, Nell Hodgson Woodruff attended the groundbreaking of the new School of Nursing Building on Asbury Circle. She would not live to see it completed, dying of a cerebral hemorrhage five days later. Also that year, Francis Creegan graduated as the first male BSN student.

The School of Nursing moved into a new building behind Emory Hospital on Asbury Circle. The BSN curriculum was changed to an integrated format and shortened to four academic years and one summer. Along with nursing courses, students were enrolled in anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, microbiology, and pharmacology, taught by Emory School of Medicine faculty.

Bob Isom, the first African American male in the BSN program, graduated. A year earlier, Mackie Norris became the first African American woman on the faculty.

Edna Grexton became dean of the School of Nursing, serving until 1984. Two years later, Clair Martin was appointed dean, serving until 1992. Under their leadership, the School specialized in nursing administration and education and the preparation of nurses for increased hands-on patient care as clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners.

The School of Nursing discontinued the use of navy blue uniforms for BSN students. Also, the NEAT (Nursing Employment and Tuition) program was initiated with Emory, Crawford Long, and other hospitals. Students defrayed part of their tuition by working for one of the hospitals after graduation.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Community Foundation gave $1 million to the School of Nursing to establish the Edith F. Honeycutt Chair of Nursing. The chair was named for the 1939 alumna who was a pioneer in oncology nursing at Emory and served as a private nurse to the Woodruff family. Deborah McGuire, a researcher in cancer pain and symptom management, became the first holder. Today, Jo Ann Dalton and Kathy Parker hold Honeycutt Chairs. Also, in 1990, the Independence Foundation endowed a chair in nursing education. Ora Strickland was its first holder, and Maureen Kelley currently holds an Independence Chair.

Dyanne Affonso was appointed dean, serving until 1998. During her tenure, Emory University approved plans to construct a new nursing school building and establish a doctoral program focused on nursing research.

Marla Salmon, former director of the Division of Nursing in the U.S. Department of Health, was appointed dean. Under her leadership, enrollment grew, research funding increased, and the School of Nursing broadened efforts in service-learning and international nursing. Later in 1999, three students enrolled in the School of Nursing’s new doctoral program focused on clinical research.

Sandra Dunbar was appointed as the School’s first Charles Howard Candler Professor of Cardiovascular Nursing. Distinguished faculty in different disciplines across Emory hold these endowed professorships.

The School of Nursing moved into a new state-of-the-art building, which includes a teaching pavilion and clinical skills lab. The building is strategically located on the Clifton Corridor between the Rollins School of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also, the School established the Lillian Carter Center for International Nursing (now called the Lillian Carter Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility) to extend health care to vulnerable people through more effective nursing leadership and practice worldwide. Later that year, the School was awarded federal funding to establish the Center for Research on Symptoms, Symptom Interactions, and Health Outcomes. Directed by Kathy Parker, the Center was one of only nine exploratory centers in the country funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research.

The School of Nursing received $5 million from The Helene Fuld Health Trust, the largest gift in the School's history. The gift supports fellowships for second-career students with an interest in serving vulnerable populations. The fellowships are also intended to help fill the critical shortage of nurses nationwide.

Caroline Constantin became the first student to receive a PhD. Also, U.S. News & World Report ranked the School 26th overall and 8th among private nursing schools in the nation.

The School of Nursing began a dual-degree partnership with Agnes Scott College to attract students with a strong liberal arts background and an interest in nursing. Also, the School of Nursing was ranked 18th among more than 600 nursing schools and 6th among all private nursing schools for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. 

The School of Nursing launched a yearlong Centennial celebration. To date, approximately 10,000 Emory-educated nurses have led the way in patient care, public health, research, health education, and health policy around the world. Also, Sarah Freeman became the first holder of the Betty Tigner Turner Professorship in Nursing.

Kenneth Hepburn and Marsha Lewis became the School of Nursing’s first associate dean for research and associate dean for education, respectively. Sue Donaldson joined the School as Distinguished Professor of Nursing and Interdisciplinary Science, with a secondary appointment in the School of Medicine.

Linda McCauley, former associate dean at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, was appointed dean. Under her leadership, the Emory School of Nursing had risen in the U.S. News & World Report rankings, increased enrollment, established clinical collaborations with leading health care systems, and enhanced nursing science at Emory.

There were 102 full-time faculty members at rank, and total student enrollment increased from 473 in 2012 to 1,138 in 2020. The School of Nursing also received several major research grants: $4.5 million to improve maternal and newborn survival in Ethiopia; $1.5 million to train nurse scientists to improve chronic illness outcomes; and $2.1 million to establish a Center for Cognition, Affect, and Symptom Science.

Emory's School of Nursing and Georgia Perimeter College were awarded $900,000 to train minority nurses for research careers. Melissa Pinto, PhD, RN, a nursing researcher at the School of Nursing, presented research results at the White House as part of the Technology Innovations for Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders Conference.

The School of Nursing launched the DNP program and Neonatal Nurse Practitioner program, one of the only programs in Georgia.

The School of Nursing entered the Top 10 for nursing in "America's Best Graduate Schools" by U.S. News and World Report. The School climbed to No. 4 in the nation for receiving National Institutes of Health research funding. Researchers at Emory University also received $572.4 million from external funding agencies in fiscal year 2015, a 9.7 percent increase from the previous last fiscal year. This marked the largest amount of research funding in Emory’s history and was the sixth consecutive year that research funding exceeded $500 million.

The CRNA program launched. The School of Nursing also moved into the Top 5 for nursing graduate programs, and the Family Nurse Practitioner program ranked 8th in the country according to U.S. News & World Report. 

The School’s Distance ABSN program launched. The School of Nursing also received the highest rankings to date for its master’s programs (3) and DNP program (5) according to U.S. News & World Report. 

The School of Nursing launched InEmory, an Accelerated Master of Nursing program that provides a seamless education-to-practice pathway for students transitioning from a nationally ranked nursing program into practice at a Magnet® designated hospital in Atlanta.

MN program launched with 115 students. The first cohort of the School’s CRNA program also graduated with a 90 percent pass rate on board exams.

The $20.6 million, 70,000-square-foot Emory Nursing Learning Center (ENLC) opened. The ENLC features cutting-edge simulation and instructional spaces, and it is home to the Emory Nursing Experience professional development program. Since opening, the ENLC expanded its footprint, adding 10,000 square feet for testing space and the Master in Cardiovascular Perfusion Science program.

The School of Nursing was ranked No. 1 in BSN and master’s degree programs among U.S. nursing schools according to U.S. News & World Report. The School’s enrollment has steadily grown, reaching a total enrollment in Fall 2024 of 1,450 students (340 of which are BSN students). 

After decades of oustanding service to the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Dean Linda McCauley retired at the end of 2025. 

In January 2026, Lisa Muirhead, Professor and Senior Associate Dean Associate Dean for Enrollment, Student Affairs, and Organizational Engagement became the interim Dean of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.