51ÁÔĆć

51ÁÔĆć BS in Nursing Ranked #39 in Nation

51ÁÔĆć Sign by dorms

UW-Milwaukee is excited to share that the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program is now tied for No. 39 in the nation, out of 681 programs, for the Best Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Program for 2023 by U.S. News & World Report. 51ÁÔĆć Nursing saw a substantial increase from last year’s position, No. 76 in the nation, celebrating the highest ranking in our College’s history.

Dean Kim Litwack shared, “The improved ranking reflects the hard work of our students, our exceptional faculty and our relationship with our clinical partners to prepare strong clinicians. Together we are working to ensure students are given resources to help them succeed, including academic support, scholarships and an exceptional curriculum.”

UW-Milwaukee College of Nursing is consistently ranked as a top school for our BS in Nursing, RN to BSN, Master’s degree and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs. To review the Best Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Programs list, visit .

About 51ÁÔĆć College of Nursing

Since 1965, the College of Nursing has developed a tradition of excellence. Dedicated to providing academic programs of the highest quality that are at the forefront of nursing, the college has been widely recognized for its innovation, leadership in the profession of nursing and extensive collaboration with diverse community agencies.

Woehrle Honored with Prestigious Award at ASA

Lynne Woehrle, Associate Professor and Sustainable Peacebuilding Program Director was awarded by the American Sociological Association (ASA) the 2022 Section on Peace, War and Social Conflict’s Robin M. Williams Award for Distinguished Contributions to Scholarship, Teaching, and Service.

This award recognizes significant contributions to Peace Studies, conflict analysis, and the study of war/violence. Woehrle, was honored on August 6, 2022 at the ASA Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, CA.  She is the 26th person to receive this award and a part of a very prestigious group of sociologists.

Lynne Woerhle

Woehrle who couldn’t be at the annual meeting shared, “In my youth I thought it was about making peaceful change and then it would be done; now I understand that relationship-building is never finished, and it is more about the means than the ends. Constructive conflict is a process, not merely an outcome. There is much to despair about in the world today and we must insist and persist in our individual efforts toward peacebuilding, justice and conflict transformation while also celebrating the widening impact of the ideas and practices we have upheld and nurtured for generations of scholars and practitioners.”

About the American Sociological Association:

The American Sociological Association, founded in 1905, is the national professional membership association for sociologists and others who are interested in sociology. ASA members include students, faculty working in a full range of institutions, and people working in government agencies and nonprofit and private sector organizations. ( )

ASA’s mission is to serve sociologists in their work, advance sociology as a science and profession, and promote the contributions and use of sociology to society.

About Robin M. Williams:

Robin M. Williams, Jr., was the most intelligent, informed, and wise person I have had the good fortune to know as a friend and a colleague. His research fostered understanding of some of the most difficult problems of American society. He devoted much of his career and writing to studies of intergroup tensions, race relations, war and peace, ethnic conflict, and altruism and cooperation. ( )

Violence Against Women Resources

Milwaukee Skyline and text says Resources In Milwaukee

UW-Milwaukee nursing faculty, staff and students are actively collaborating with many organizations in Milwaukee to address access to resources and disparities related to violence against Black and Brown women. In the last year, Milwaukee has witnessed an extreme increase of domestic abuse and violence since the start of 2022. Through our national funding, we have formalized our efforts through the Tracking the Truth and Sister by Choice: United by Voice grants which support collaborations, forensic care and resources to women in our community.

If you would like to get involved or need access to resources, consider one of our Milwaukee partner agencies that support survivors of domestic abuse are:


  • 3719 W. Center Street
    Milwaukee WI 53210
  • 930 W. Historic Mitchelle St
    Milwaukee, WI 53204
    414-383-9526
  • 3136 W. Kilbourn Ave
    Milwaukee, WI 53208
    414-763-5815
  • | 5235 S. 27th Street
    Greenfield, WI 53221
    Crisis Line for Our Peaceful Home: 414-727-1090
  • 619 W. Walnut Street
    Milwaukee, WI 53212
    Crisis Line: 414-933-2722

It is our hope through partnerships such as ours that we gain public support, increased advocacy and provide access to the women in our families and communities.

Polfuss selected as fellow of American Academy of Nursing

Michele Polfuss, associate professor of nursing at 51ÁÔĆć, has been selected to be a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. The 2022 inductees will be recognized at the academy’s annual Health Policy Conference in October. Read more about Polfuss at uwm.edu/news.

AACN Selects 50 Nursing Schools to Help Identify Hallmarks of Inclusive Learning Environments

51ÁÔĆć Nursing is excited to have been chosen by American Association of Colleges of Nursing to participate in a culture and climate survey to help identify the hallmarks of inclusive learning environments within nursing schools in the US.

Retirement Farewells

congratulations with confetti


51ÁÔĆć College of Nursing is wishing several employees a very happy retirement!  This spring and summer, the College celebrates the following individuals on their well-earned retirements.

  • Tim Ehlinger, William Collins Kohler chair in systems change and peacebuilding and associate professor
  • Jeanne Erickson, associate professor
  • Sarah Morgan, clinical associate professor
  • Linda Romanski, clinical assistant professor
  • Kathleen Scheinost, clinical instructor

Retired Before Spring 2022

In the last year, we also bid farewell to the following individuals who retired from UW-Milwaukee College of Nursing.  

  • Jean Bell-Calvin, clinical assistant professor and nursing center director
  • Jim Bumby, clinical assistant professor
  • Michele Faltinson, clinical instructor
  • Sandra Underwood, professor

A nurse’s legacy lives on through student scholarships

A young candy striper at Trinity Memorial Hospital in Cudahy, WI, knew from a very young age she had a calling and passion for helping others. Jill Ladwig (’79), a registered nurse, had a long career helping people in various positions as a floor nurse, supervisor, instructor for certified nursing assistant (CNA) candidates, and wellness nurse in geriatrics.

Jill’s career started as a candy striper in high school. Then she worked as a CNA through college. She firmly believed and advocated for the critical role of a CNA. As an instructor, she stressed attention to detail and taught excellence in care skills. Her unique bond with her students inspired many students to move into lifelong positions in health care.

As a registered nurse, Jill’s knowledge and insight often set her apart within the profession. Her commitment to the patient was always her priority: ensuring they were treated with dignity and respect. Jill would step up and ensure she was helping those who had difficulties caring for themselves, such as older adults and those with addiction problems. Her strengths as an empathetic listener and patient advocate were valuable to patients who needed her voice to represent and care for them.

After Jill’s passing, her family wanted to ensure her legacy lived with future generations of nursing students at UW-Milwaukee. The newly established scholarship, “Jill M. Ladwig Nursing Scholarship,” provides financial funding to two groups of students: credentialed CNAs in the nursing program with a demonstrated financial need and doctor of nursing practice students with a focus on psychiatric mental health with academic merit.

Jill’s husband, Ken (’78 and ’80), shared “Jill’s cheerful disposition and deep compassion were reflected in every facet of her life, providing inspiration to her family, friends, and patients. She is greatly missed. These scholarships provide us with one way to preserve her memory by contributing to the development of new generations of dedicated nurses and other health professionals.”

Scholarships are the lifeblood of the nursing program at UW-Milwaukee. Jill’s memory is living on with all of us through her family and scholarships impacting the future generation of panther nurses.

Undergraduate Research Awardees

51ÁÔĆć Undergrad Research Awardees standing in front of sign saying "We are R1"

As an undergraduate student at an R-1 institute, the opportunities can be infinite if you are willing to reach outside of your comfort area. In Spring 2022, UW-Milwaukee’s Office of Undergraduate Research hosted the annual undergraduate research symposium where two students, working with nursing scientists, received accolades for their participation and efforts.  Under the direction of Dr. Murad Taani and Dr. Sandra Millon-Underwood, the students are actively working on projects and grants related to their interest areas.

Nicholas Urban-Michalak, BBA

Nicholas, a second-degree nursing student from Milwaukee, Wisconsin with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Texas A&M. During his time at Texas A&M he played baseball and many in his friends’ group were nursing and pre-med students who often shared intriguing stories of their experiences and what they had been learning in class.

As a business major, during a pandemic, Nicholas and his classmates worked with a social service agency reviewing benchmark data with a goal to recruit more families and parents into foster care. After 15 weeks the group presented data on how to recruit more future foster parents.  Through this very difficult process, of remote data review, he found a passion in something that wasn’t baseball… but rather in helping people.

After enrolling at UW-Milwaukee, Nicholas took the course, Perspectives in Healthcare Systems, taught by Dr. Murad Taani, 51ÁÔĆć Associate Professor and Ovation Jewish Home Joint Research Professor in Aging.  As a returning student, Nicholas wasn’t afraid to ask questions and Dr. Taani took notice.  After one discussion, Nicholas followed up with Dr. Taani and offered to help him with the research he was doing in partnership with Ovation Communities. Nicholas began working with Dr. Taani in January 2022, on the project “Achieving Better Lung Health,” by implementing non-pharmacological interventions to address Restrictive Ventilatory Patterns (RVPs) in older adults.

Sophia Najwa Hamdan

Sophia, an undergraduate in the College of Letters & Sciences, Journalism, Advertising and Media Studies program is working alongside Dr. Sandra Millon-Underwood, Professor of Nursing, Emerita. Sophia had connected to Dr. Underwood in Fall 2021 as there was a need for writing and communications in support of the Healthy Eating Active Living Collaboration.  Then in January 2022, Dr. Underwood wanted to gather perspectives of a younger generation, in relation to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.  We felt it was very important that students get the support they need in drastic times as this generation missed out on many opportunities over the last several years.

In early 2022, Sophia began talking and interviewing students regarding their feelings and experiences from the beginning of the pandemic versus now.  Many students in the beginning, shared they were unprepared and had feelings of nervousness, anxiety, fear from isolation which lead to depression.  Sophia shared, “restarting as a junior this year was like being a new freshman all over again as my entire sophomore year was online.”

Sophia hopes to continue this research with Dr. Underwood and track perceptions as things continue to change and the world reopens. 

Research Awards

In Spring 2022, both Nicholas and Sophia were part of the 280 51ÁÔĆć undergraduate students presenting research at the 14th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. Nicholas and Sophia both were presented with “Outstanding Presentation Awards” for their contributions to science.  The students presentations are available online for viewing at: .  

Congratulations 51ÁÔĆć Daisy Award Recipients

The Daisy Award for Extraordinary Nurses: In Memory of J. Patrick Barnes Logo with white Daisy

51ÁÔĆć College of Nursing congratulates Jessica Hertig and Murad Taani, who recently were recognized for their commitment and inspirational influence on their students.

The DAISY Faculty Award is a national recognition program. Honorees are nominated by their peers, students, school administrators, alumni, and clinical staff in the hospitals where faculty have students.

Jessica Hertig

Ms. Jessica Hertig, Clinical Instructor, has been with UW-Milwaukee for the past four years with expertise in academic instruction within the theory and clinical settings. Over the years, she has worked as a clinical instructor within the undergraduate program, teaching in the bachelors, RN to BSN and direct entry master’s programs. She is favored by colleagues and students for her teaching and practice styles and continues to foster innovative approaches within her classes to help study and apply knowledge to practice. These teaching approaches have been successful, and she’s shared them with other nursing educators across all of our programs. In addition to her teaching and clinical roles, Ms. Hertig has engaged in service to our College and University, becoming a member of the undergraduate program committee and developing inter-campus activities and collaborations, most recently with 51ÁÔĆć School of Continuing Education.

Murad Taani

Dr. Murad Taani, Assistant Professor at UW-Milwaukee College of Nursing since 2017 and alumni of our Ph.D. in Nursing, is recognized by students and colleagues for his commitment to excellence in research, teaching and mentorship. Dr. Taani is well known among students and colleagues for his expertise in quantitative nursing research through his research, mentorship of doctoral students and teaching broadly through graduate statistics and methods courses at the college. Dr. Taani is willing to share his expertise broadly to ensure students are empowered and successful in their research trajectory. A colleague nominator shared, “The successes that Dr. Taani has demonstrated in teaching have also been evident through student requests for him to be their academic advisor, independent study supervisor, classroom research, and research mentor. Dr. Taani always emphasizes the importance of integrating information with hands on experiences and practice, which has been reflected in his time investment to provide hands-on research with students.”

Honorary Degree Recipient Judy Murphy

Judy Murphy getting hooded by Dean Litwack and Chancellor Mark Mone

For over forty years, Judy Murphy has been a leader in nursing informatics. After graduating from nursing school, she worked her way up at Aurora Health Care over 37 years. She served as a staff nurse, an inservice educator, an Information Technology Clinician Analyst, and finally as Vice President of Applications, Information Services.

As part of the inservice education department, her role was to train new nurses as they entered the organization and provide professional development, often training clinicians on new technology. When the hospitals began working with mainframe clinical applications, Ms. Murphy collaborated with the information technology department to create the lab order entry system. As a nurse, she noticed how results were reported by date, not allowing the results to be re-sorted by test in order to evaluate trends over time. It dawned on her that the work she was doing was not supporting clinicians the way they needed and wanted the information.

Her curiosity and tenacity led to her first position within the information technology department as a clinician liaison to impact the way technology and data were used to help clinicians and improve patients’ health. Ms. Murphy shares, “I was doing informatics before anyone else was doing it… I moved into the IT department as a clinician in 1983. When I started, there were only 30 people in the department, and when I left, we had over 600 people.”

After leaving Aurora, Ms. Murphy was named the Deputy National Coordinator for Programs and Policy at the United States Department of Health and Human Services. She then went on to serve as Chief Nursing Officer at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) and culminated her career at IBM in the Global Healthcare and Life Sciences division. 

Judy Murphy, RN, FACMI, LFHIMSS, FAAN

In a nomination letter, Dr. Norma Lang, 51ÁÔĆć Professor and Dean Emerita, shared that Ms. Murphy’s “career has influenced, and in many cases, defined clinical work, nursing informatics.” Dr. Lang went on, “Judy is an excellent partner in advancing the vision, concepts, and science of health care information systems in collaborative partnerships between academic, business, and health care organizations. Crossing those traditional divides is one of her major strengths.”

Ms. Murphy has dedicated her time, talent and skill as an international expert in nursing informatics. Her ability to bridge relationships between business, healthcare and academics has resulted in her lasting impact on nursing research, policy and solutions that have improved patient safety as well as nurses’ workload, and patient education related to their own use of electronic health records. Ms. Murphy continues volunteering as an expert on electronic health records, working closely with HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) and with AMIA (American Medicao Informatics Association).  She is also helping the National Health Service (NHS) England to bring U.S. experiences with nursing informatics and electronic health records to other countries. She shared, “I am most proud that I could influence a lot of people through mentorship and by my example. Since I retired so much about my impact on others has been shared with me from new students to experienced colleagues. I was doing the work the entire time thinking of nurses and patients. It’s amazing how one individual can have such an impact without even realizing it!”