News Release

Local angle: Hendersonville

Endowment fund to support scholarships
for doctoral candidates in cardiovascular nursing

CHAPEL HILL – James A. and Jane W. Smith of Hendersonville have established the Jane Winningham Smith Doctoral Scholarship in Cardiovascular Nursing with a pledge of $13,000 each year for the next seven years.

The Smith scholarship endowment will assist doctoral candidates specializing in cardiovascular nursing with tuition, fees and other expenses beginning in 2012. In the meantime, immediate funds are available to students through the Jane Winningham Smith Expendable Doctoral Scholarship in Cardiovascular Nursing that the Smiths have created with a $49,000 gift to be paid out at $7,000 per year for the next seven years.

"The Smiths have demonstrated their commitment to nursing and health care through the creation of these scholarships," said Dr. Linda R. Cronenwett, dean of the School of Nursing. "The students who benefit from these scholarships will become leaders in cardiovascular nursing and contribute to the advancement of cardiovascular patient care and science."

James A. Smith is a 1958 UNC graduate with a degree in industrial relations. He is a pioneer in marketing technologies to improve cardiovascular health. Jane W. Smith graduated from Watts School of Nursing in Durham. The scholarships were named in honor of her nursing career.

"My wife is a nurse so we knew we wanted to do something to benefit nursing," said James A. Smith. "We learned that the School of Nursing was looking to expand their cardiovascular nursing doctoral program, and since I made my career promoting the biomedical engineering of cardiovascular health devices, the scholarships seemed like the ideal way to contribute to nursing and cardiovascular health care."

The Smiths’ gift counts toward the university’s Carolina First Campaign goal of $2 billion. Carolina First is a comprehensive, multi-year, private fund-raising campaign to support Carolina’s vision of becoming the nation’s leading public university.

UNC’s School of Nursing was established in 1950 in response to the overwhelming need for nurses in North Carolina. It was the first nursing school statewide to: offer a four-year bachelor’s degree (1950), offer a master’s degree in nursing (1955), initiate continuing education for nurses (1964), offer a doctorate in nursing (1989) and offer an accelerated bachelor’s degree option for second degree students (2001).

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School of Nursing contact: Amanda D. Meyers, (919) 966-4619 or Amanda_Dindino@unc.edu