College of Nursing Announces the Diane L. and Robert F. Moritz, Jr. Endowed Chair in Nursing Research

Professor Helene Moriarty, PhD, RN is the inaugural appointee to the College of Nursing’s first endowed faculty chair which is named for its donors: The Diane L. and Robert F. Moritz, Jr. Endowed Chair in Nursing Research. Dr. Moritz is a 1951 graduate of the College of Commerce and Finance.

Citing the choice of Dr. and Mrs. Moritz to endow a chair as “evidence of their confidence and trust placed in us,” M. Louise Fitzpatrick, Ed.D., R.N., FAAN, Connelly Endowed Dean and Professor explains that “The endowment of a faculty chair is symbolic of the progress the College of Nursing has made and its commitment to scholarship and research as a means to advance nursing practice through education, and ultimately improve patient care.”

Dr. Moriarty will provide significant leadership as the College develops its research capacity. She will conduct and teach research as well as serve as a resource for faculty and students. She has been a nurse researcher at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center for 20 years and has held faculty positions at the University of Pennsylvania and Villanova.

A highly respected and prolific researcher and scholar, Dr. Moriarty has conducted important interdisciplinary studies, many of which have focused on the physical and psychosocial health imperatives of veterans and their families. She is also an accomplished methodologist.

 “The chair reflects the University’s growing emphasis on faculty research that builds new knowledge within a faculty member’s field of inquiry and that also increases the capacity for interprofessional research collaboration,” notes Dr. Moriarty.

Dr. Moriarty received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Villanova in 1977 and earned her graduate degrees in nursing at the University of Pennsylvania.