Solidifying CWRU's status as a nurse leadership destination
Shaughnessy Academy will expand its impact, thanks to single largest gift in the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing's history
When Marian K. Shaughnessy, DNP, RN (NUR ’85, ’17), developed a plan for a leadership academy housed at Case Western Reserve University, she could not have envisioned the global impact her idea and her support would have.
More than a decade since that 2012 proposal, nurse executives from around the world come to Cleveland to sharpen skills, conduct research, drive policy and network with other senior leaders through the Marian K. Shaughnessy Nurse Leadership Academy at Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing.
Now those opportunities will multiply, thanks to an $8 million matching gift from the Shaughnessy family intended to bolster the academy’s work and support its students through scholarships. It’s the single largest gift to the nursing school since its inception.
“The Shaughnessy family has been visionary in their solutions to strengthen nurse leadership and dedicated in bringing them to life at Case Western Reserve,” said President Eric W. Kaler.
The academy launched in 2018 through a $5 million gift from Marian and her husband, Michael, and friends and family members who wanted to support their vision.
It found a home at the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve and Cleveland Clinic in 2021, after a $2.5 million gift from Michael and their daughters, Anne Shaughnessy-Marchetto and Kate Shaughnessy Biggar. The gift was announced on the first anniversary of Marian’s death—providing a permanent space where her impact as an educator, administrator and community leader lives on.
Building futures while making history
This latest commitment brings the family’s total giving to Case Western Reserve to more than $16 million. It also is intended to be a matching gift—spurring others to donate to the school’s $25 million fundraising initiative to expand access to executive-level education through scholarships, advance research and add nurses’ voices in healthcare policy.
“This historic gift enhances the Marian K. Shaughnessy Nurse Leadership Academy and elevates the school’s role in placing nurse leadership at the center of healthcare,” said Ronald Hickman, PhD, RN (CWR ’00; NUR ’06, ’13; GRS ’08, nursing), dean of Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing.
Since its inception, the academy has grown to create leadership programs such as the Shaughnessy Coldiron Senior Nurse Executive Fellowship, a 13-month cohort-based program in which 25 senior nursing executives from top healthcare institutions around the world come together to study and devise ways to make healthcare more patient-centered, cost-effective, accessible and quality-driven.
“Seeing the reach of this program has been a really remarkable journey for us,” said Michael Shaughnessy. “These are nurses who are at the top of their profession, and we bring them together to deal with issues and find solutions for new crises that come up. It’s been an eye opener to see the magnitude of what can transpire.”
The exceptional reach of the program would have pleasantly surprised his late wife, he said—a sentiment his daughters echoed.
“Our mother was dedicated to bettering her community and to advancing her profession,” Anne Shaughnessy-Marchetto and Kate Shaughnessy Biggar said in a statement. “Seeing the exceptional growth of this program, and knowing it leads to nurses with seats at the tables where critical healthcare decisions are made, would have been her ultimate goal.”
Marian Shaughnessy first crafted the idea for the academy in a 2012 leadership class taught by Professor Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, PhD, RN (MGT ’92), the academy’s director and the Elizabeth Brooks Ford Professor of Nursing.
Over the years, the two honed their ideas and the academy’s curriculum.
In recognition of Fitzpatrick’s leadership, the Shaughnessy family also announced a $100,000 gift toward an endowed professorship in her honor. The new professorship will recognize a nursing school faculty member who embodies the exceptional leadership skills Fitzpatrick displays daily.
“With this transformative gift … the academy has a unique opportunity to expand our reach and chart a unique path for advancing nursing leadership locally, nationally and globally,” Fitzpatrick said.
“With this transformative gift … the academy has a unique opportunity to expand our reach and chart a unique path for advancing nursing leadership locally, nationally and globally.”
—Joyce J. Fitzpatrick
