IU School of Nursing Professor Honored for Her Unparalleled Community Activism

INDIANAPOLIS – The IU School of Nursing (IUSON) announced that Rose M. Mays, PhD, RN, FAAN received a 2006 Hoosier Heritage Lifetime Achievement Award from the Heritage Place of Indianapolis, Inc. for her longtime community activism. Gerald Bepko, IUPUI chancellor emeritus, former winner and honorary chair of this year’s Hoosier Heritage Night presented Mays with this award on June 22, 2006 during a dinner and awards presentation at Oak Hill Mansion in Carmel.

A professor and associate dean of the Center for Community and International Affairs at the IU School of Nursing, Mays earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Evansville, her Master of Science in Nursing degree from Indiana University and her Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She has been a faculty member at IUPUI since 1973.

As a specialist in adolescent health care and a pediatric nurse practitioner, Mays is well-known for her leadership and interdisciplinary research in community-based initiatives designed to improve the health of vulnerable children and their families. She has developed programs that have been incorporated into the policies and practices of service agencies. For example, she has developed models aimed at improving the parenting skills of cognitively limited young mothers, facilitating parent-teen communication, and providing health care services to homeless youth.

“I was so very pleased that Rose was selected as one of the honorees for this year’s Hoosier Heritage Night. She is the embodiment of the quintessential community activist/scholar, and is on the forefront of developing new models of health education and family caregiving that are community-based. Rose possesses the uncanny ability to create new and exciting community partnerships while continuously strengthening existing ones through research and teaching,” said Marion E. Broome, PhD, RN, FAAN, university dean and distinguished professor, IU School of Nursing.

Her community ties are far-reaching. Mays serves currently or formerly as a board member, trustee or member of the Mayor’s Indy in Motion Advisory Council, Planned Parenthood of Greater Indiana, Marion County Child Protection Team, Indianapolis Children’s Museum, Hoosier Capitol Girls Scouts, Visiting Nurse Service, University of Evansville, St. Mary’s Child Center, among many others. She has also received numerous awards from both the university and community organizations for her dedication to teaching and for her community work.

[Heritage Place of Indianapolis, Inc. provides older adults with comprehensive and coordinated human services to encourage and promote healthy lifestyles, independence, well-being and quality of life. Established in March of 1976 through the combined efforts of the Butler-Tarkington and the Meridian-Kessler Neighborhood Associations, Heritage Place is a member of the United Way of Central Indiana family of agencies.]

To learn more about the IU School of Nursing, visit http://nursing.iupui.edu/.