Dr. Barbara Kitchen, Dean of Health Sciences, at Midway University announced her retirement earlier this year. At a reception held last week on campus, she was honored by board members, fellow faculty and staff members, alumni, students and community members for her years of service to Midway University.
Due to her years of service and significant contributions to Midway University, the Board of Trustees granted Dr. Kitchen the title of Faculty Emerita, which was presented to her as part of the May Commencement ceremony. At the reception last week, a permanent plaque was unveiled that will be hung in the Anne Hart Raymond Building where she has worked. Dr. Kitchen first came to Midway University in 2001 as a faculty member in the Nursing program. In 2004, she was appointed the Chair of the Nursing Programs and in 2005, she was appointed the Chair of the Nursing and Science Division. In 2014, she was appointed the Dean of the School of Health Sciences.
Dr. Kitchen has run a highly respected nursing program and has been an ambassador for Midway University within the healthcare industry, said Dr. John P. Marsden, President, Midway University. “She has had a tremendous impact on the education and preparation of numerous students. She has also been involved in many professional organizations within the state of Kentucky and served on various boards related to nursing and community health. She has developed and fostered many community partnerships so that our nursing students could have clinical experiences as well as community service projects.”
One local project that Dr. Kitchen was highly involved in was working with the task force that was put together that eventually helped establish The Homeplace at Midway.
Marsden also noted that “Dr. Kitchen has been responsible for overseeing the reaccreditation of the Associate degree in Nursing and RN-BSN programs since assuming the role of Chair of Nursing in 2004. She worked with the faculty to develop the Master of Science in Nursing program which received initial accreditation in 2018. And she submitted all the necessary paperwork to establish a Pre-licensure Bachelor of Science program this year. That program will begin this fall.“
In recognition of what she has meant to the greater community and the City of Midway, Mayor Grayson Vandegrift read an official proclamation noting June 28, 2019 as Dr. Barbara Kitchen Day in Midway, Kentucky.