Being old is not a disease, it’s frankly an achievement.
On April 17, 2024, we celebrated the birthday of Dr. Rheba de Tornyay. Dr. de Tornyay served as dean of the UW School of Nursing from 1975 to 1986 and was a dedicated proponent of gerontological nursing. She was passionate about nursing education and promoting healthy aging. The work of the de Tornyay Center for Healthy Aging is possible thanks to the generosity of Drs. Rudy and Rheba de Tornyay, whose support helped establish the center and made possible 26 years of contributions to gerontological nursing.
Learn more about Dr. de Tornyay’s life, career and continued impact through the center’s three-part timeline of her life and legacy.
Thank you to everyone who joins us in continuing Dr. de Tornyay’s legacy: the faculty who mentor students, the researchers who further nursing science in healthy aging, the educators who weave new aging concepts through the curriculum, the thought leaders who challenge our current beliefs about aging and the students who dedicate themselves to becoming the next generation of changemakers and leaders in gerontological nursing research and practice. Together, our collective work helps move forward her vision of healthy aging for all.
What [Rheba] taught me was, don’t grieve the life you don’t have, create the life you want.
[Rheba’s] real dream, I think, was imagining what future students would be able to create, what you would be able to inspire, not just in your own work, but in your work with students, your work with older adults, and to begin thinking about what is left on this agenda…