Marion E. Winfrey, EdD
Marion E. Winfrey joined the University of Massachusetts Boston a Visiting Assistant Professor in 1990. During her 29 years in the Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences (MCNHS), Dr. Winfrey served as an associate professor, nursing department chair, associate dean, and twice as interim dean. Dr. Winfrey demonstrated a unique dedication to the betterment of her students and the future of her field throughout her tenure. She illuminated the need for equitable education as a vehicle for diversity among nurses and health care professionals. Also, she brought new initiatives to the MCNHS and made it a mission to impact the face of nursing as principal investigator on two diversity leadership grants.
In addition to her 40-year career as a nurse educator, Dr. Winfrey served over 20 years as a staff nurse in neurology and burn trauma at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Her experience in bedside care highlighted the need for more diversity among nurses and health care professionals and inspired her ongoing commitment to diversity, health, and health equity.
In her retirement, Dr. Winfrey volunteers at the Salem Food Pantry and serves as a corporation member of Mass General Brigham (MGB) Incorporated, as the immediate past president of the North Shore Community Health Board of Directors, as a trustee of MGB Salem Hospital, serving on its Quality and Professional Affairs Committee.
Impact
The Marion E. Winfrey Diversity Leadership Scholarship Fund continues Dr. Winfrey’s legacy of inspiring, challenging, and empowering diverse students to be agents of nursing health care change. The scholarship will provide support to students enrolled in the nursing program at the Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences, with special consideration given to socioeconomically disadvantaged students who are disproportionately impacted by the lack of resources to continue their educational pursuits, while promoting leadership and encouraging excellence and professionalism.