During Women’s History Month, the University of Washington School of Nursing is recognizing the women whose leadership, scholarship, advocacy and care have shaped nursing across generations — and celebrating those carrying that work forward today.
At the UW School of Nursing, women have helped define what nursing can be: a field grounded in care, strengthened by science and expanded through leadership. School history reflects that legacy through leaders like Mary Tschudin, who helped build nursing research at UW; Rheba de Tornyay, who helped develop the School’s first PhD in nursing science; Kathryn Barnard, whose work advanced infant mental health; and Jeanne Quint Benoliel, who helped found the field of palliative and hospice care.
That same spirit of leadership continues in students like Marin Strong, a PhD in Nursing Science student whose recent appointment as a Sigma United Nations Youth Representative reflects not only personal achievement, but history in the making.
Strong was selected to represent Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing to the United Nations and the broader NGO community, joining a small group of youth representatives helping elevate nursing leadership on the global stage. In the role, she will participate in United Nations events, promote engagement with the Sustainable Development Goals and help advocate for the value of nursing leadership in addressing global health challenges.
For Strong, the opportunity is both deeply personal and part of a larger calling.
“At the heart of it for me is that I hope to amplify the impactful work nurses do every single day,” Strong said. “I also want to help nurses see the role they play in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. Global is local and local is global.”
Her appointment reflects a view of nursing that is expansive, interdisciplinary and deeply connected to the world beyond any one clinic, classroom or community. Strong brings experience across community and global health nursing, with work spanning Alaska, Texas, Washington and international settings including Indonesia, Nepal, India, South Africa and Brazil. She has contributed to research collaborations focused on HIV and STI prevention in Kenya and currently studies programs addressing opioid use disorder in the Seattle area.
Women’s History Month often invites us to look back at landmark achievements and the women who opened doors before us. It is also a chance to recognize leadership as it is unfolding in the present. Strong’s journey reflects a tradition long visible at the UW School of Nursing: women stepping into new spaces, asking bigger questions and helping shape the future of health care, research and public life.
The women who shaped nursing’s past did more than make room for others. They expanded the field itself. During Women’s History Month, Marin Strong’s story reminds us that this work continues — and that the future of nursing will be shaped by women who are already stepping forward.