PNC Announces Endowed Faculty Scholar Positions

Dignitaries assembled for the announcement of the Endowed Faculty Scholar Positions: (l to r) Dr. James Dworkin, Purdue North Central; Dr. Mark Jacobi; George Averitt, Duneland Health Council; Judy Jacobi, Purdue North Central; George Todd, Duneland Health Council; Burton Ruby, Duneland Health Council; Michael Harding, Duneland Health Council; Dr. Yeou-Lan Duh Chen, Purdue North Central; Fred Miller, Duneland Health Council; Roger McKee, Duneland Health Council; Norm Steider, Duneland Health Council

WESTVILLE –Purdue University North Central has announced the establishment of two endowment funds to support two faculty scholar positions.

As part of the Lilly Endowment Inc. commitment to aid Indiana institutions of higher education in achieving new levels of excellence, the Lilly Endowment has quadrupled each of the two individual donor gifts that have been made to PNC to establish these two endowment funds. These two endowment funds total $1 million.

The first Duneland Health Council Faculty Scholar Fund for Nursing has been made possible through a contribution by the Duneland Health Council and the Lilly Endowment. The purpose of this endowment is to aid PNC in attracting and retaining senior faculty who can provide leadership in transforming health care through research, teaching and influencing public policies related to community health and quality of life issues.
Nursing Department Chair Dr. Yeou-Lan Duh Chen has been named the first Duneland Health Council Faculty Scholar, and becomes the first endowed faculty scholar at PNC.

An endowed faculty scholar fund has also been established by Dr. Mark D. and Judy N. Jacobi, who provided initial funding for the Teddy Jacobi Endowed Faculty Scholar in Business, to honor the memory or their son, Paul “Teddy” Jacobi. Teddy, in his young life had demonstrated great promise as an outstanding student, an accomplished athletic competitor, a state chess champion and a good and supportive friend. Judy Jacobi is PNC director of Marketing and a lifelong advocate for higher education. Dr. Mark Jacobi has practiced pediatrics in LaPorte County for more than 30 years.

Dr. Jacobi stated, “Judy and I feel the best way to realize the promise and potential of young students, such as Teddy, is through education and the teachers who can make learning a relevant and engaging experience. We hope by endowing the faculty scholar, we can best honor Teddy’s memory to bring to this and future generations of students important learning experiences and skills so necessary in today’s economic environment.”

A national search is in progress for an educator to fill this faculty scholar position.

“It is a tremendous honor for us to be able to offer these two faculty scholar endowments,” said Dr. James B. Dworkin, PNC chancellor. “The Duneland Health Council and Dr. and Mrs. Jacobi have been remarkably generous in their support of PNC; and the Lilly Endowment is well known for its commitment to promoting higher education in Indiana. Together, their financial commitment will make it possible for PNC to open new possibilities for our faculty. And ultimately, this will benefit our students and our community. Dr. Chen is a valued member of our faculty and very deserving of this honor. She will continue her administrative and faculty responsibilities, as well as her research.”

Burton B. Ruby, chairman of the Board of Duneland Health Council, added, “The mission of the Duneland Health Council is to improve the health and general welfare of the community. I believe that the creation of this faculty scholar position in keeping with our mission and will help ensure the continuation of a quality program in nursing education at PNC.”

Norman D. Steider, executive director of the Duneland Health Council, noted, “The challenge facing higher education is finding and retaining the best and brightest nursing faculty. We want to help ensure that qualified nursing leadership is in place to direct the education of future nurses.”

Faculty scholar Chen is an international professor and scholar who concentrates much of her work on nursing research and theory. Chen earned her bachelor’s degree in Nursing and master’s degree in Public Health Administration from the National Defense Medical Center in Taiwan and her Ph.D. in Nursing from the University of Utah.

Prior to her arrival at PNC she was a professor of Nursing at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was recognized as Professor of the Year in Utah by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement and Support of Education, was honored by the Utah Business Magazine as a “Healthcare Hero,” and was elected a Fellow of the Western Academy of Nursing. The recipient of various teaching, research and publication awards in both the United States and China, her publications include four books, with two forthcoming books under contract, and more than two dozen articles in the fields of Nursing Theory and Research, Community Nursing, Gerontological Nursing, and Complementary Alternative Medicine. She has conducted sponsored research in the United States, China and Taiwan, and has presented workshops for faculty and nurses in Taiwan and China.

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