Susan Reichert Gortner
UCSF School of Nursing will host a celebration of life honoring the late Susan Reichert Gortner, MN, PhD, from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at the Faculty-Alumni House, 745 Parnassus Ave.
Gortner, of Soda Springs, was a professor emerita at UCSF, a champion of nursing research and former associate dean of the UCSF School of Nursing. She died on Sept. 13 from a rare autoimmune disease. Gortner was 73.
Born on Dec. 23, 1932, in San Francisco, she was the daughter of two physicians, a neurosurgeon father who was a former chief of surgery at Stanford University, and a generally trained, although nonpracticing, physician mother.
Gortner entered Stanford University at the age of 16. She studied humanities, including philosophy -- which became a lifelong love -- and settled into social sciences, including a major in anthropology and minors in history and psychology. Gortner received her AB degree from Stanford in 1953, her master's degree in nursing from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland in 1957, and her PhD degree in higher education from UC Berkeley in 1964.
In 1960, she married biochemist Willis Alway Gortner of Honolulu, Hawaii. They had two children, Catherine Willis Gortner and Frederick Aiken Gortner. In 1964, the family relocated from Honolulu to Silver Springs, MD.
In 1966, the Division of Nursing of the US Public Health Services, asked Gortner to serve as consultant to the new Nursing Training Act (NTA). She reviewed early grant awards, helped draft the first report of the NTA to Congress, and subsequently was appointed in 1968 as the first nurse-scientist to staff the extramural peer review committee for nursing research. She was chief of the Nursing Research Branch, Division of Nursing, Public Health Service, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (1973-1978) and acting chief of the Nursing Practice Branch, Division of Nursing, Public Health Service, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (1975-1976), with oversight responsibilities for extramural research and research training programs. During this period, Gortner and her office laid a strong foundation for nursing research. Her leadership of the federal center gave rise to the National Institute of Nursing Research, one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
In 1978, academia lured Gortner back when UCSF's School of Nursing recruited her as professor of family health care nursing and associate dean of research, a position she held until 1986. During her leadership at UCSF, she led the School of Nursing in strengthening its research mission, and she is credited with developing a model still used for research facilitation in academic centers of excellence. She was a dedicated master teacher, committed to excellence, who mentored many doctoral nursing students who became renowned nurse-researchers and leaders throughout the world.
At UCSF, Gortner also built a program of empirical studies that focused on cardiac surgery recovery, examining patient and family treatment choices, treatment outcomes and recovery processes. Her research demonstrated the importance of family involvement to boost patients' recovery from cardiac surgery.
Gortner's scholarship was recognized with many honors. In 1990, she was the third person selected as Distinguished Scholar of the NIH National Center for Nursing Research. In 1991, the American Heart Association honored her with its Katharine Lembright Award, while the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada gave her its Visiting Scientist Award.
Gortner was inducted as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) in 1977 and was honored by AAN as a Living Legend in 2001 in recognition of her multiple contributions to the profession and health care services in the United States and throughout the world. UCSF School of Nursing chose her as its Helen Nahm Research Lecturer in 1987.
Other honors include the Distinguished Alumna Award from Case Western Reserve University in 1983, a Fulbright Research Scholar/Lecturer at the University of Oslo in 1988, induction as a Fellow of the Council on Cardiovascular Nursing, American Heart Association in 1992, and the Margretta Styles Leadership Award from the Alpha Eta Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau (nursing honor society) in 1994. She published more than 70 scientific papers and technical reports. She retired from UCSF in 1994. From 2002 to 2005, she held the Orvis Endowed Chair at the Orvis School of Nursing, University of Nevada at Reno, helping to build an infrastructure for research and working with faculty to assist them in developing their research initiatives.
Gortner was as vibrant in her family and personal life as she was in her professional life. She was an avid outdoors enthusiast who loved hiking and fly-fishing in the Sierra Nevada mountains where she lived. Until age 70, she energetically shoveled snow that mounted almost two dozen feet high on her deck. She retired to an area known for its cross-country skiing, which became one of her passions. She enjoyed riding Tennessee walking horses, as well as traveling internationally with her late husband, Willis Gortner. Holidays were always spent with family and friends.
Survivors include a daughter, Catherine Willis Gortner of San Jose, a son, Frederick Aiken Gortner of Oak Park, CA, Fred's wife, Cindi, and three grandchildren, Devyn, Davis and Danica.
The family requests that memorial gifts be made to the Dr. Susan Reichert Gortner Endowed Scholarship Fund in the School of Nursing at University of California, San Francisco. The scholarship assists doctoral nursing students preparing for academic research careers. To make a memorial gift, contact Mark Boone, UCSF School of Nursing development officer at 415/502-8310.
Friends planning to attend the Celebration of Life on Nov. 15 may RSVP to
Claudia Schumann at 415/476-4587.
