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Published on: 2/1/2004
Last Visited: 8/7/2008
"Teach us to care," wrote American poet T. S. Eliot - words that might well describe the personal, lifelong mission of Mary Lebold, RN, Ed.D, Dean of the School of Nursing at Saint Xavier University.
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In her work as a nurse, educator, administrator and nursing scholar, Lebold has always emphasized the value of human caring.According to her former colleague, Margaret Douglas, "Creativity and caring have been the themes of Mary's work.
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Lebold has been with Saint Xavier University for nearly 44 years, including 13 years as Dean.Ironically, she has devoted all but three years of her professional life to education, despite vowing early in her career that she wanted to be a caregiver and "to do anything in nursing except teach."
Fortunately for the hundreds of nurses who have been her students, that vow was broken when, as a favor to her mentor, Sister Annette, she accepted a teaching position when a sudden vacancy occurred.Sister Annette apparently recognized her gift for teaching before Lebold herself did, and encouraged her to pursue a master's degree.To her great surprise, Lebold discovered that she loved teaching.
Lebold began her nursing career at Saint Xavier University, graduating with a BS in nursing and taking a staff position on a medical-surgical unit at Mercy Hospital.The decision to become a nurse was an easy one for her.
"I had wonderful role models within my family.My mother was a nurse, and I had a cousin who was an Army nurse and an aunt who was a community health nurse.It was my aunt who inspired me, while my mother encouraged me to consider engineering or medical school.But I knew that I wanted to give care, and once I made my decision, my mother supported me," she recalls.
Lebold eventually married and was at home with 6-month-old baby Lisa when Sister Annette made the call that changed the course of her life.
"It was 5:30 a.m., and she woke me to say that she desperately needed me to teach a summer course.Well, you didn't say no to Sister Annette," she laughs.
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Lebold also launched the Chicago Institute for Nursing Education (CINE), a consortium of nurses from the academic and clinical nursing communities designed to foster problem-solving through dialogue.
Lebold's leadership extends beyond the Saint Xavier campus.As a board member for the past 15 years, she has played a pivotal role in the Alivio Project, a center for Chicago's underserved Hispanic population.When she learned that there were hundreds of unlicensed foreign nurses who were residing and working in Chicago in low-income, non-nursing jobs, she recognized an untapped asset and began a program with community partners to prepare them for licensure, offering English classes, clinical refreshers and other supports.
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Mary Lebold's career is a testament to making a difference, and although she plans to travel and enjoy her family and grandchildren, she will continue to serve on boards, write grants and consult.And without any doubt, to continue to care and to teach others the art of caring.
Mary Lebold can be reached at lebold@sxu.edu.
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