Mary Woody

Mary Woody
Born	Mary Florence Woody March 31, 1926 LaFayette, Alabama
Died	April 28, 2010(2010-04-28) (aged 84) Decatur, Georgia
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Columbia University
Occupation(s)	Nursing professor and administrator

Mary Florence Woody (March 31, 1926 – April 28, 2010) was an American nurse, hospital administrator and university professor. She worked as a director of nursing at two large hospitals and was a nursing school dean or associate dean at Auburn University and Emory University. She was designated a Living Legend of the American Academy of Nursing.^[1]

Mary Florence Woody was born to Hugh Ernest and May Lillie (Gilliland) Woody in LaFayette, Alabama, where she grew up on her family's farm.^[2] Her father also owned a gristmill and a general store, where Woody often worked in her youth.^[2] She had with five older siblings.^[3]

Woody was inspired to pursue nursing by the violent events of World War II.^[4] After graduating from high school, she completed Cadet Nurse Corps training at Charity Hospital in New Orleans in 1947.^[5][6]

Before pursuing higher degrees in nursing, Woody worked for as a staff nurse for five years in three different hospitals.^[7] In 1948, she joined the staff at Wheeler Hospital in Lafayette, Alabama. Then, in 1949, she transferred to the acute polio unit at Willard Parker Hospital in New York City.^[5][7] One year later, she moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where she served as a nurse and supervisor at the VA Hospital until 1953.^[5][7]

Woody then moved back to New York where she earned a B.A. in nursing in 1954 from Columbia University and a master's degree in nursing service administration in 1955 from Teachers College, Columbia University.^[5][8]

After completing her master's degree, Woody worked for a year as a faculty member and field supervisor in the division of nursing at Teachers College, Columbia University.^[7] She then returned to the South, where she served as the assistant director for medical and surgical nursing Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia between 1956 and 1968.^[6][7] During this time, Woody also worked as a co-instructor for the master's program in nursing supervision at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.^[7]

In 1968, Woody left Emory to accept the positions of assistant hospital director and director of nursing at Grady Memorial Hospital.^[6][9] She would continue to serve in these positions until 1979.^[6] While working at Grady, Woody helped create a diabetes day care program, specialized nurse-managed clinics, and a patient education program.^[6][9] She also established clinical specialist positions in pediatrics, psychiatry, surgical rehabilitation, and burns.^[10] Woody also recruited Elizabeth Sharp to found Grady's first nurse midwifery program.^[6] Throughout her time at Grady, Woody retained her role as an assistant professor of nursing at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.^[7]

In 1979, she became the founding dean at the Auburn University School of Nursing.^[6] Over the course of the five years she served in this position, Woody helped develop a practice oriented undergraduate nursing program.^[11]

Woody returned to Emory University in 1984 to serve as both the director of nursing and the associate hospital director.^[6][7] During this period, she also served as the associate dean of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.^[6] During this period at Emory, Woody helped to established a collaborative model that allowed hospital nurses to teach students and nursing faculty to maintain a clinical practice.^[2][6] She also created several new positions for nurses in transplantation medicine and pain and incontinence management.^[6][2]

On September 15, 1992 Woody was named the interim dean of the nursing Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.^[8] She held this position for one year.^[2] Woody retired from nursing on October 1, 1993, at the age of 67.^[7]

Throughout her career, Woody advocated for the integration of professional associations in nursing.^[5] She led the integration of the American Nurses Association.^[12]

She also served on numerous committees over the years.^[6] Most notably, she served as the chairperson and board of directors of the American Journal of Nursing Company.^[8] She also served as a charter fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and a member of the board of directors of Wesley Homes.^[8] Woody also held numerous professional memberships including the American Academy of Nursing, National League for Nursing, the American Nurses' Association.^[6] Woody published several articles and essays.^[6] Her works were often featured in the American Journal of Nursing.^[6] In 1973, Woody also a co-authored the book Applying the Problem-Oriented System with John Willis Hurst and Henry Kenneth Walker.^[6]

Nursing students at Auburn University can be considered for the Mary F. Woody Alumni Endowed Scholarship.^[13]

Woody died in 2010 of congestive heart failure at an assisted living facility in Decatur, Georgia.^[5]

• Certificate of Special Recognition (1978) - Georgia Nurses’ Association^[14]
• Distinguished Nursing Achievement Award (1991) - Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing^[15]
• Alumni Achievement Award for Nursing Service (1992) - Teachers College, Columbia University^[16]
• Distinguished emeritus professor - Emory University^[9]
• Distinguished Nursing Achievement Award (1994) - Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing^[15]
• Honorary Alumnus Award (1995) - Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing^[15]
• Living Legend Award (1997) - American Academy of Nursing^[2]
• Marie Hippensteel Lingeman Award for Excellence in Nursing Practice (1999) - Sigma Theta Tau nursing honor society^[2]
• Named one of 50 “Women Pioneers in Health Care in Georgia” (1999) - the state of Georgia^[17]
• Inducted into the Nursing Hall of Fame (1999) - Teachers College, Columbia University^[14]
• Inducted into the Alabama Health Care Hall of Fame (2008)^[18]

• List of Living Legends of the American Academy of Nursing

• Mary Woody papers, 1947-2008 at the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library Archives, Emory University