IN THE BEGINNING: INTERVIEW WITH PROFESSOR EMERITA JUDY HOLT By Linda Hulton
Left: Hired in 1981, Judy Holt quickly proved to be a dynamic faculty member who was instrumental in shaping the JMU nursing program for the first 20 years. She provided a level of clinical expertise that enabled and inspired over 1500 nursing students to achieve excellence. Holt considers her greatest accomplishment to be the legacy of her students.
– Judy Holt
JMU Nursing professor emerita
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SCHOOL OF NURSING MAGAZINE
Tell me about your memories of the start-up of the JMU nursing program. During the 1960-70s, JMU started exploring the idea of developing some
Above: Maureen Chambers receives nursing program’s first pin from President Ronald Carrier as Dean Marcia Dake looks on. pre-nursing courses in conjunction with the Rockingham Memorial Hospital’s nursing program. That program was highly respected in the community and the administrators wanted to support the RMH nursing students by preparing them in the prerequisite science courses so the students could eventually go on to finish their Bachelor of Science degrees in nursing if they desired. During the 1970s, many of the hospital diploma nursing programs
