Karsh Endows Visiting Professor in Nursing

Estrellita Karsh received a standing ovation during the annual BWH Nursing Recognition Dinner after Mairead Hickey announced the Estrellita and Yousuf Karsh Visiting Professor in Nursing program.

The Department of Nursing has received a very generous gift from Estrellita Karsh, a longtime benefactor and friend, in the form of an endowment that will fund the Estrellita and Yousuf Karsh Visiting Professor in Nursing.

In announcing this gift, Mairead Hickey, PhD, RN, chief nursing officer and senior vice president of Patient Care Services, said, “Mrs. Karsh has demonstrated a consistent commitment to the BWH clinical nurses over the years, and this recent gift will allow us to build on much of the excellent work already in place.”

Each year, a national nursing scholar will be invited to spend one or two days at BWH to share his or her clinical wisdom and body of research while engaging with clinical nurses on patient care units. Mrs. Karsh said she is “delighted that this cross pollination of learning and teaching will not only introduce BWH nurses to distinguished mentors and diverse clinical approaches outside the Brigham, but also that this interchange will celebrate and extend the excellence of our own BWH nursing staff.”

The Karshes have a long history with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Department of Nursing. In 1999, Yousuf and Estrellita Karsh funded the Mary Fay Enrichment Award to provide opportunities to nurses to explore compassionate, innovative and evidenced-based solutions to patient care problems. Several portraits by world-renowned photographer Yousuf Karsh, who died in 2002, are on display along the Nesson Pike and elsewhere at BWH.

“Mrs. Karsh’s well placed confidence in the clinical strength of BWH nursing is evident, and, on behalf of the entire Department of Nursing, I wish to acknowledge this wonderful gift,” Hickey said.