90 Outstanding Yale Nurses Recipient
Class of 1949
Born to missionary parents serving in Guam, Esther Hoffman felt called into missionary service at an early age. As an adult, she pursued higher education in the U.S., graduating first from Evansville College (Indiana), earned her master’s degree in nursing from YSN, and a master’s degree in religious education from Asbury Theological Seminary (Kentucky). In 1952, Esther was appointed to Burundi as a missionary nurse. After a year’s study of French and tropical medicines in Belgium, she moved back to Burundi in 1953. In 1963, she was put in charge of the Murehe dispensary and supervised the Kayero dispensary for several months. She worked primarily with African dispensers to diagnose and treat illnesses, serving the Hutu and Tutsi tribes.