Lagerwey to serve as school of nursing director

Dr. Mary D. Lagerwey has been appointed to serve as director of the WMU Bronson School of Nursing, effective July 1, 2015, after serving as interim director since January 1, 2015. Lagerwey, the school's longest-serving traditional faculty member, came to the WMU Bronson School of Nursing in 1995. She holds the rank of professor and has taught health care ethics, nursing history and qualitative methodology. She has also led a study abroad program in the Netherlands for the past five years.

Lagerwey’s publications and areas of research focus on ethical concerns in historical contexts, particularly for vulnerable populations. She has conducted extensive research on women and health care under the Third Reich, and her book "Reading Auschwitz" was published as part of AltaMira's Ethnographic Series. She is studying women in the United States eugenics movement of the early twentieth century. Lagerwey received a B.A. in sociology from Calvin College, a B.S. in nursing from Grand Valley State, an M.S. in nursing from Michigan State University, and a Ph.D. in sociology from WMU.