Nursing Leadership Academy at Case Western Receives $8 Million Endowment

The Marian K. Shaughnessy Nurse Leadership Academy at Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University, recently received an $8 million gift from the family of Marian K. Shaughnessy. 

The purpose of the gift was to support the Academy’s students through scholarships and to support the overall work and mission. The historic $8 million gift is meant to be a matching gift – helping launch a fundraising initiative to raise more than $25 million. The money raised will,

• Expand access to executive-level education through scholarships
• Advance research in the nursing and leadership field
• Add nurses’ voices to healthcare policy

“This historic gift enhances the Marian K. Shaughnessy Nurse Leadership Academy and elevates the school’s role in placing nurse leadership at the center of healthcare,” said Ron Hickman, dean of Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. “The generosity of the Shaughnessy family is a transformative act of confidence in the power of nurse leaders.”

The Academy enrolls students from all over the world. The program is a 13-month cohort-based program. Twenty-five senior nursing executives work together to study and plan. The overall goal of the program is to make healthcare,

• More patient-centered
• Cost effective
• Accessible
• Quality driven

Students travel from all over the world to enroll in the program. The last cohort included students from,

Started by Marian K. Shaughnessy, DNP, RN (NUR ’85, ’17) and her husband, Michael, in 2018 through a $5 million gift, the purpose of the Academy is “to redefine the role of nurses in healthcare policy, solidifying their position as critical decision-makers from the bedside to the boardroom.”

Source: Marian K. Shaughnessy, DNP, RN

In 2021, the Academy came to the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic after a $2.5 million gift from Michael and their daughters, Anne Shaughnessy-Marchetto and Kate Shaughnessy Biggar. Marian Shaughnessy had passed the year before. 

“The Shaughnessy family has been visionary in their solutions to strengthen nurse leadership and dedicated in bringing them to life at Case Western Reserve,” said University President Eric W. Kaler. “Their continued commitment to the Marian K. Shaughnessy Nurse Leadership Academy serves as a lasting legacy for Marian and creates promising futures for nurse leaders pursuing academic and professional excellence.”

Source: Shaughnessy Family at the Ribbon Ceremony

The Academy has three strategic goals,

• Education
• Research
• Policy

“Our mother was dedicated to bettering her community and to advancing her profession,” Anne Shaughnessy-Marchetto and Kate Shaughnessy Biggar said in a statement. “Seeing the exceptional growth of this program, and knowing it leads to nurses with seats at the tables where critical healthcare decisions are made, would have been her ultimate goal.”

To learn more about the Marian K. Shaughnessy Nurse Leadership Academy, visit the website. 

🤔 Nurses, share your thoughts in the discussion forum below.