School of Nursing Mourns Passing of Accomplished Nursing Educator and Scholar Lois W. Gage
Michigan Pioneer and nursing leader developed primary care program and co-chaired the Academic Women's Caucus.
The School of Nursing was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Lois W. Gage, Professor Emeritus of Nursing from May 31, 1991 until her death on June 28, 2011. Dr. Gage was a pioneer for women and in nursing practice, and made innumerable contributions to the Michigan academic nursing community.
A native of Massachusetts, Professor Gage completed a diploma in nursing at St. Elizabeth’s School of Nursing in Brighton, Massachusetts in 1943. She received her B.S. degree in public health nursing from Simmons College in 1949, and her M.A. degree in public health-mental health nursing at Columbia University in 1957. In 1972, she received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan. Professor Gage’s career included positions as a practicing nurse, administrator and consultant, in addition to her work as an accomplished faculty member. She joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in 1973 as an associate professor of nursing and was promoted to professor of nursing in 1975.
At the School of Nursing, Professor Gage was a leader in the development of a primary care track in the Community Health Nursing Master’s Program and in the school’s efforts to respond to the health and nursing needs of our global community. In 1979, she received one of the first Department of Health and Human Services (then the Department of Health, Education and Welfare) grants to initiate nursing programs in primary health care.
She established the Primary Health Care Program at the University of Michigan School of Nursing within an established graduate program in community health nursing; this pioneering step ensured a community health orientation to the advanced practice skills students acquired. Over the decades, a multitude of U-M nursing students have graduated from this program; they work in and serve developing communities in the United States and abroad. Professor Gage also served the school and the University of Michigan in numerous other roles, including co-chair and steering committee member during the inception years of the Academic Women’s Caucus.
Professor Gage’s research work was guided by her commitment to improving nursing practice in and with developing communities and at-risk populations. Along with her numerous academic and nursing practice accomplishments, she will be remembered for her service to such esteemed international organizations as the Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization. Her 20 years of international nursing experience strengthened international nursing networks within academic settings, professional organizations and governmental agencies. Organizers of the 2006 U-M Nursing Alumni Reunion honored Dr. Gage as one of the Michigan Pioneers in Advanced Practice Nursing.
Services for Dr. Gage are planned as follows:
Friday, August 12, 2011
St. Francis of Assisi Church
2250 East Stadium Boulevard
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4825
11:00AM - 12:00PM - Visitation
12:00 PM - Funeral Mass
Luncheon to follow in the school building adjacent to the church.
