Nurse, Professor, Administrator

Florence Schorske Wald began her illustrious career as a visiting nurse in New York City shortly after she earned a B.A. from Mt. Holyoke College in 1938 and a Master of Nursing from Yale University in 1941. From 1956-1952, she was a research assistant in the College of Physicians and Surgeons.   In 1955, she secured a position as an instructor at the Rutgers University School of Nursing.  Two years later she returned to Yale as Acting Dean of the School of Nursing and Associate Professor.  Success followed, and within a year the leadership position was made official and Wald was appointed the fourth Dean of the Yale University School of Nursing..

Cultural Historian

Carl E. Schorske’s lecture, “A Life of Learning” begins, “My first encounter with the world of learning . . took place when I entered kindergarten in Scarsdale, New York.
To break the ice . . .my teacher asked her pupils to volunteer a song. I gladly offered a German one, called ‘Morgenrot.’ It was a rather gloomy number. . . about a soldier fatalistically contemplating his death in battle at dawn.” Shaken, the teacher took Schorske to meet the principal, who promptly promoted him to first grade.