Distinguished Alumna receives the 2004 Yale School of Nursing Medal
New Haven, CT — April 20, 2005For her outstanding contribution to YSN, Ruth Landau Benedict '48 was awarded the 2004 Yale School of Nursing Medal and welcomed to membership in Yale School of Nursing's Hall of Fame. The Medal was created in 2002 and is the first recognition award of its kind established at the School. It is awarded to selected individuals who contribute of their time, resources and talents to the betterment of Yale School of Nursing. Through their extraordinary efforts, these individuals have helped to advance the School's mission, to preserve and to carry forward the School's core values, and to raise public awareness of the important work of Yale nurses at Yale University, in our community and around the world. In doing so, they have helped to build stronger linkages between Yale University and YSN. Their example has enriched YSN and the University community and helped to define nursing leadership. It was once said of Ruth Landau Benedict that "she leads revolution, while making everyone think its evolution". This has been the secret to her outstanding success. Her "revolutions" at Yale are legion. The results have shifted the paradigm at the University and are testament to the fact that Yale Nurses truly are special. As the only woman on the 22-member Founding Board of the new Association of Yale Alumni, Ruth was the sole representative for more than 50% of Yale Alumni who graduated from the Graduate and Professional Schools. As the first Chairman of the Nominating Committee, Ruth was instrumental in helping to lay the foundation for alumni leadership. Today, the University enjoys a vibrant and inclusive alumni association representing more than 120,000 alumni world-wide. Revolution: Evolution The University quickly noticed her unprecedented success in fundraising efforts at the Nursing School and drafted Ruth to lead the Campaign for Yale of the Yale School of Nursing in 1977. As a result, Nursing was the first school in the university to reach its goal. As no good deed goes unpunished, Ruth was asked to Chair the Yale Alumni Fund for all Graduate and Professional Schools at Yale when, during a twelve year period, she increased annual income to those schools by 400%. During that time, she became the first woman on the Fund's Board of Governors in its 82 year history. Revolution: Evolution Appointed Director of Energy Conservation at Yale, in 1979, Ruth developed and implemented a highly successful cooperative program of energy conservation for the university community of 20,000 people and 200 buildings, raising $13 million with the help of a cadre of faculty and student leaders for this effort. These efforts saved the University $4 million annually in energy costs. Revolution: Evolution Recognized by her School as "Distinguished" and by the University with the Yale Medal, its highest honor, Ruth has served as an exemplar of the relationship between YSN and the University. By her leadership, her tenacity and her enthusiasm, she has strengthened the partnership between nursing and the University and blazed a trail for future nurses at Yale. It is with great pride and distinction, on this, the Seventeenth Day of February, Two Thousand and Five, Yale School of Nursing bestows upon Ruth Landau Benedict its highest award, the Yale School of Nursing Medal, and welcomes her to membership in Yale School of Nursing's Hall of Fame. The photograph above was taken at Yale University in1946 when Mrs. Benedict was a student at YSN. It features Mrs. Benedict with her future husband, Howard Benedict. This was the first time Mr. Benedict had been out of his Navy uniform as he had just returned back to Yale to continue his studies after three years on active duty out in the Pacific during WWII. Ruth and Howard Benedict were married approximately six months after the photograph was taken and have now been married for almost 60 years.
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