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Loretta Ford, National Nursing Icon and Founding School of Nursing Dean, Dies at 104

Feb. 3, 2025
The visionary leader is widely known as the co-founder of the nurse practitioner profession.
In a 1970s black and white photo, Loretta Ford smiles at the front of an auditorium while an audience cheers for her.
During her inaugural speech in 1972, former UR Nursing Dean Loretta Ford called for “a new order of things—a new order for nursing’s direction in education, research, and practice with the University of Rochester School of Nursing in the forefront as a national trend setter for improving the delivery of health care.”

Loretta C. Ford, EdD, RN, PNP — an internationally renowned nurse leader who transformed the nursing profession, was named a member of the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and served as the founding dean of the University of Rochester School of Nursing — died Jan. 22 at the age of 104.

Ford changed the delivery of healthcare by co-founding the nurse practitioner (NP) profession and launching the nation's first academic program for pediatric NPs at the University of Colorado in 1965 with Henry Silver, MD, a pediatrician. Today, there are more than 385,000 nurse practitioners in the United States.

Just a few years later, she joined the University of Rochester as the School of Nursing's inaugural dean and director of clinical nursing at Strong Memorial Hospital, from 1972 until her retirement in 1986. In Rochester, she developed the Unification Model, a philosophical approach that emphasizes the interdependence between nursing research, education, and practice to ensure high-quality nursing care.

At a time when doctors did not generally welcome input from nurses, Ford met considerable resistance from the medical community. Yet she persistently worked to equalize the perceived hierarchy between the practice of medicine and nursing, advocating for nurses as educators, researchers, and advanced practice providers as well as bedside caregivers.

“Lee Ford was a remarkable leader who transformed the face of health care through her fierce advocacy and bold vision,” says Lisa Kitko, PhD, RN, dean of the School of Nursing. “As an architect of the Unification Model of Nursing, her impact on our school and nursing profession runs deep, and her commitment to excellence continues to guide us.”

Read more about Ford's life and legacy on the University News Center, and in the New York Times and the Washington Post. Those who wish to share thoughts and memories of Ford can write a tribute and upload photos on the School of Nursing's memorial page.