Christine Kennedy speaks at a ceremony to recognize the Jack and Elaine Koehn Endowed Chair in Pediatric Nursing, which she now holds.
More than 50 years after graduating from the UCSF School of Nursing, Elaine Koehn Brookes is giving back to the institution she says has given so much to her.
Brookes, who received her nursing degree in 1957, recently completed funding of the school’s seventh endowed chair, the Jack and Elaine Koehn Endowed Chair in Pediatric Nursing, which she established in honor of her late husband, Jack Koehn, who died in 1995 of inoperable pancreatic cancer.
“Pediatrics was my love when I was in nursing school,” Brookes recalled.
Having a son with diabetes also spurred her desire to support the advancement of pediatric care and research, Brookes said.
The holder of the Koehn Endowed Chair will oversee clinical and research projects and supervise the training of the next generation of pediatric nursing students.
“Elaine has been a sustained supporter of the School of Nursing,” said Kathy Dracup, RN, DNSc, dean of the nursing school. “This chair will allow for long-range planning, stability and financial flexibility at a school that is consistently ranked among the top nursing schools in the nation.”
The chair’s inaugural recipient is Christine Kennedy, RN, PhD, a professor of family health care nursing, who joined the UCSF faculty in 1991.
At her investiture ceremony on Nov. 25, Kennedy said she was “touched that this chair was established not only by an alumna [of the school], but also by a nurse herself.”
As a token of her gratitude, she presented Brookes with a first-edition copy of the book Nurse: A World of Care, by Peter Jaret, which she said eloquently describes the immeasurable contribution nurses make to the world on a daily basis.
Kennedy read a passage from the book aloud, which said, in part: “Nurses are there when life begins and when it ends, offering expertise, comfort, and care. Only by recognizing and supporting their work can we hope to heal our ailing health care systems and ensure that nurses will continue to be there when we need them most.”
Over the past 17 years, Kennedy has taught in all of the School of Nursing’s pediatric and neonatal programs at one time or another. Outside the classroom, much of her research has focused on childhood obesity and its contributing factors, such as poor nutrition and sedentary behavior.
In her capacity as the Koehn Chair, she hopes to continue that work and to develop solutions to slow the rapid increase in obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular risk among children, she said.
“The gift of the chair far surpasses my or my team’s effort,” she told the standing-room-only crowd at the ceremony. “It will change knowledge, understanding and practice.”
Kennedy also credited UCSF for providing an environment in which she feels supported and free to ask questions and explore uncharted research territory.
“I never really got beyond the childhood mantra of ‘Why?’” she said. “At UCSF, those ‘Why?’ questions are encouraged, and that’s an incredible gift.”
