Honoring the Past While Looking to the
Future
Dr. JoAnn Vahey, beloved faculty
emeritus of the School of Nursing, passed
away on March 23 at the age of 79 from
natural causes. After working as a nurse in
her home state of Pennsylvania, she returned to school to pursue a career in nursing education.
Dr. JoAnn Vahey
Beloved School of Nursing
faculty emeritus
Following graduation from Columbia
University, Dr. Vahey moved to Boise to become Chair of the Department of Nursing
at Boise State University. She held a variety of teaching and
administrative positions. One of her many accomplishments during her Boise State career included a
major grant award to start a Baccalaureate Nursing program, which subsequently received accreditation from the National League for Nursing in 1991. Previously, only an associate’s degree was offered
in nursing at Boise State. Dr. Vahey also started a Continuing Education Consortium located at Boise
State University in collaboration with local hospitals to offer continuing education to all RNs in the
Valley. Dr. Vahey retired from Boise State University in 1999. After her retirement, she established a
nursing scholarship in her parents’ name with the Friends of Nursing at Boise State.
“JoAnn truly was a living legend for our School of Nursing,” said Dr. Pam Springer, associate dean
of the College of Health Sciences and director of the School of Nursing. “She chaired the department
during turbulent times and always looked after the well-being of the department as she held other
administrative positions at the university. Even after her retirement from Boise State, JoAnn continued
in her role as mentor for many of the faculty.”
Barbara “Barb” Allerton, associate professor in the School of Nursing,
retired at the end of the spring semester,
after 34 years of teaching nursing in Idaho.
She has taught at Boise State University for
20 years.
Barbara “Barb” Allerton
Retiring faculty from the
School of Nursing
While at Boise State, Allerton developed a partnership between the Boise
State School of Nursing and the School of
Nursing at Hangzhou Normal University in
Hangzhou, China. The partnership continues today with regular faculty and student exchanges. With
her colleagues, Allerton organized the [