Hundreds of people participated in the Yale School of Nursing (YSN) centennial trivia quest, drawing interest from undergraduates, graduate students across the university, alumni from almost every professional school, members of the general public, and staff in a wide variety of roles.
Two winners chosen at random each won a centennial swag bag.
Yale School of Medicine Associate Professor of Internal Medicine Jaideep S. Talwalkar, MD, learned about the centennial in a Yale newsletter. He often reads about YSN events for two main reasons: he collaborated with YSN faculty in the early days of planning the Interprofessional Longitudinal Clinical Experience (ILCE) and he happens to be married to YSN midwifery alumna Kristen Becker-Talwalkar ’02 MSN.
“I was impressed by the creative use of a trivia contest linked to YSN’s social media presence. It definitely made it fun and easy to engage,” Dr. Talwalker said.
Helen Porter Jayne and Martha Prosser Jayne Emerita Professor of Nursing Marjorie Funk ’84 MSN, ‘92 PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN also snagged a swag bag.
“At the moment, my favorite part of the YSN centennial is the trivia survey,” Dr. Funk said. “YSN certainly has an interesting history.”
Dr. Funk joined the YSN faculty in 1984 and retired in 2018. She regularly shares her clinical skills with the local community, including staffing a Covid-19 vaccine clinic.
Trivia Answers
1. Which of the following master’s specialties are offered at YSN?
- Nurse-Midwifery
- Psychiatric-Mental Health
- Pediatrics
- All of the Above
In addition to these, YSN also offers the specialties Adult/Gerontology-Acute Care, Adult/Gerontology-Primary Care, Family Nurse Practitioner, Pediatrics in Acute Care and Primary Care, and Women’s Health.
YSN also offers concentrations in diabetes care, gender and sexuality health justice, and oncology.
2. Why is 1946 significant in the history of the Yale School of Nursing?
- The 1,000th student graduated
- The first African-American student graduated
- YSN established the first psychiatric nursing master’s degree program in the United
- States
- Admiral Grace Hopper audited classes at the school
Elouise Collier Duncan ’46W graduated with one of the war classes in the Cadet Nurse Corps in 1946, the school’s first Black/African-American graduate. An obstetrical nurse, she later became an educator herself at Howard University in Washington, DC. In 1980, YSN honored her many contributions to the profession by selecting her as a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award.
3. In what year did the first male student graduate from YSN?
- 1982
- 1962
- 1971
- 1955
Gordon Sawatzky is the first male student to graduate from YSN’s MN program as a member of the Class of 1955. As displayed in the centennial exhibit, a local news article at the time chose to describe the milestone with the headline “Male Nurse Invades Strictly Women’s World.”
4. How long has Yale School of Nursing been located on West Campus?
- 5 years
- 10 years
- 20 years
- 30 years
YSN moved into its new home in 2013. During the opening celebration, President Salovey announced that his family was endowing a scholarship for the school in honor of his mother, a former nurse.
5. How many YSN students have graduated since the school was founded?
- About 12,000
- About 9,000
- About 6,000
- About 3,000
The school’s first students occupied a building at 310 Cedar Street and were awarded Bachelor of Nursing (B.N.) degrees. Members of the Class of 2024 attend classes at 400 West Campus Drive and can earn a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), or a PhD.
6. Annie Warburton Goodrich is remembered for what distinction at Yale?
- First female dean at Yale University
- The former chief nursing inspector of US Army hospitals during World War I
- The first dean of Yale School of Nursing
- All of the above
Founding Dean Annie Goodrich took the helm at the school’s inception, emphasizing the importance of social justice and community integration within the curriculum in order to educate future nurses to be “scientifically informed, technically expert, and socially experienced.”
7. In 2014, YSN Dean Margaret Grey presided over a West Campus graduation ceremony for what school?
- Yale School of Public Health
- Orange Middle School
- Peck Place Elementary School
- Yale School of Art
Yale’s first-ever sixth-grade graduating class took up residence on Yale West Campus for about six month after their school was damaged by water and asbestos.
8. Stephanie Welsh ’02 MSN won what prize before enrolling in YSN and becoming a Yale midwife?
- Oscar for best adapted screenplay
- Pulitzer Prize for feature photography
- Emmy for short documentary
- MacArthur Fellowship, aka a “Genius Grant”
Welsh won in 1996 for a sequence showing a female circumcision rite in Kenya, a series she shot at the age of 21.
In an essay she wrote about her career journey, Welsh wrote: “I am often asked how I went from being a photojournalist to being a midwife. The short answer is simple and obvious to me: I do the same thing.”
9. In 1974, what did YSN Dean Florence Schorske Wald (Class of 1941) bring to the United States from the United Kingdom?
- Hospice care
- An updated uniform
- Nursing pins
- A plant-based nutrition curriculum
The opening paragraph of her obituary in The New York Times reads: “Florence S. Wald, whose vision of bringing the terminally ill peace of mind and, to whatever extent possible, freedom from pain led to the opening of the first palliative care hospice in the United States, died on Saturday at her home in Branford, Conn. She was 91.”
10. Where have YSN students provided health care to the local community?
- The flu shot clinic at Yale Health
- The annual Stand Down event for veterans
- In the Community Health Care Van
- All of the above
In addition to these locations and many more, YSN students also staffed the Campus Covid Resource Line, which eventually answered more than 100,000 phone calls and recently retired after nearly four years of service.
Bonus Question. Dean Azita Emami became the 11th dean of YSN in 2023. How many languages does she speak?
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Dean Emami speaks Farsi, Swedish, English, and Spanish.
Centennial Events and Coverage
Registration is now open for the final installment of the Centennial Faculty Lecture series, “Current mHealth Limitations and Future Direction” with Zhao Ni, PhD, BMedSci, RN. The lecture will take place on-campus and virtually at 12 pm on April 11.
For a complete list of upcoming centennial events, video highlights, and a photo gallery, visit nursing.yale.edu/centennial