Ruth Malone Installed as Nursing Alumni/Mary Harms Endowed Chair

It gives me great pleasure to announce that the Chancellor has approved the School of Nursing selection committee’s recommendation for the next Nursing Alumni/Mary Harms Chair.  This endowed chair position will be held by Dr. Ruth Malone.

Dr. Malone received her PhD in Nursing from UCSF in 1995.  She is an engaged citizen of the UCSF community, serving on a number of committees at the school and campus level.  She has been Chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences since 2010.  She is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in health policy. Her research has focused primarily on the behavior of the tobacco industry, particularly as it impacts marginalized populations. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers, 27 book chapters, and nearly 100 other reports, editorials and commentaries.  She is frequently sought out by the media to discuss her research. 

Her work has been referenced in an Institute of Medicine (2009) report on tobacco use in military and veteran populations, which called for a tobacco-free military. 

Dr. Malone is also the Editor-in Chief of Tobacco Control, one of the most respected international journals devoted to tobacco control policy issues.
 

Ruth has one of the most active research programs of any faculty member in the School of Nursing. She currently is the PI or multiple PI for four NIH R01 grants funded by National Cancer Institute and National Institute on Drug Abuse.  She is also a well-respected teacher, with awards that include the Excellence in Teaching Award by the graduating MS students in the School of Nursing in 2011, and the Hal Luft Mentoring Award in 2012. In addition to supporting her health policy research efforts, Dr. Malone plans to make a portion of this annual endowment available to defray the costs for Health Policy students doing summer policy residency experiences outside of the local area. 

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Malone on this distinguished recognition of her accomplishments.  The Nursing Alumni/Mary Harms Chair was established in 1997, with generous donations from the Nursing Alumni Association and from former Associate Dean and Professor Mary Harms.  The late Mary T. Harms, EdD was an Operating Room supervisor at UCSF Medical Center in 1936, and was appointed to UCSF SON Faculty in 1940.  It is stipulated that the holder of this Endowed Chair should be an “eminent member of the faculty from any department in the School of Nursing. Income from the endowment will be used to support teaching and research.”  This Chair is to be awarded to any Associate or Full Professor in the School of Nursing with an active program of research, for a period of 3-5 years, and is renewable pending ongoing research and scholarship.

David Vlahov, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN
Dean and Professor
UCSF School of Nursing