University of Evansville Announces the Nancy McFadin Mueller Chair in Nursing Fund
Edward J. Mueller M.D. established the fund with a $1 million gift to honor his wife and 1970 UE nursing alumna, Nancy McFadin Mueller
EVANSVILLE, IN (12/02/2019) The University of Evansville announced the Nancy McFadin Mueller Chair in Nursing Fund at an event on the UE campus today. Edward J. Mueller M.D. established the fund with a $1 million gift to honor his wife and 1970 UE nursing alumna, Nancy McFadin Mueller.
The fund will provide support for UE’s Dunigan Family School of Nursing through a stipend for an endowed chair and funding for programming that will further support a rich educational experience for UE nursing students. The Nancy McFadin Mueller Chair in Nursing will be the chair of the Dunigan Family School of Nursing, and will demonstrate the values of hard work and caring that Nancy brought to the nursing profession.
“My wife provided outstanding care to so many throughout her remarkable nursing career, it is only fitting to give back to the place that provided her professional foundation,” said Edward J. Mueller. “Nancy has always had a special place in her heart for the University of Evansville, and it is our hope that this fund will make a significant impact in the education of future nurses.”
Nancy grew up on a farm outside of Mt. Vernon, Ind. Her passion growing up was to become a nurse, and she accepted a scholarship through the Army student nurse program in order to pay for her education at the University of Evansville. In exchange for tuition, she committed to serving four years as a nurse in the U.S. Army, and after graduation, she was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Nurse Corps.
“Nancy is the epitome of the words we use to indicate sustained outstanding performance in a profession,” said her husband. “She was a role model and a mentor throughout her long career in Army Nursing, and when she retired in 1994 at the rank of Colonel, she then joined me in my urology practice.”
Though urology was a new area for her, Nancy embraced the challenge, passed the urology nurse certification exam (the first board-certified urology nurse in all of San Antonio), and became involved in the Society of Urology Nurses Association (SUNA), eventually accepting national president of the association. She published articles on urologic care of patients and was an editor and author for Telephone Nursing Practice in Adult Urology – A Manual for Urology Nurses, published in 2000.
In 2008, after practicing nursing for 38 years, Nancy retired from nursing.
“We are so proud of Nancy’s incredible career in nursing,” said Mary Kessler, dean of UE’s College of Education and Health Science. “She is an example for all current nursing students on how we can make a difference in the world around us through this profession. We are also grateful to Dr. Mueller for choosing to honor Nancy in this way, and we are privileged to be able to carry on her legacy through this endowed chair.”
