Dr. Horn obtained her Master’s in nursing from the University of Washington in 1961. She was interested in research and continued as a nurse educator. Although there was not a PhD in nursing at that time, it was clear to her that a PhD was necessary to be an academic and a researcher. In 1964 Dean Mary Tschudin and Dr. Katherine Hoffman at the University of Washington obtained a grant from the USPHS to institute the nurse-scientist program. Because there was not a Ph.D. in nursing, nursing students were required to complete their major in another discipline, learn the research methods of that field, and apply them to research required for their dissertation in that discipline. The grant included full-time support of faculty members with PhDs in fields other than nursing (for example, anthropology, sociology, physiology) who taught seminars in their field. Funding was also obtained to support the education of nurse students in any one of the disciplines offered.
Dr. Horn’s chosen discipline was anthropology, as she was aware that culture influenced how people approached health and health care. Her experience as an undergraduate student at St. Louis University in various neighborhoods in St. Louis, as well as her nursing experiences in northern Minnesota, stimulated her interest in trying to understand the phenomenon of culture in all aspects of health. Dr Horn had heard of the work of Dr. Madeleine Leininger, who had received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Washington. In 1966 she read the term transcultural nursing in a Newsletter of the Minnesota Nurses’ Association. Dr. Horn had read other articles in a few nursing journals by Dr. Leininger, but she had never met her or attended any of her presentations at nursing meetings. Dr. Horn became a graduate student at the University of Washington in the autumn quarter of 1970 and discovered that the new Dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Washington was Dr. Madeleine Leininger. Only two other students in her cohort chose anthropology as their field of study. They were all excited to know that the new Dean was a nurse-anthropologist.
Dr. Leininger was appointed chair of Dr. Horn’s committee and directed her carefully through these processes. When Dr. Horn completed her fieldwork for her study, Dr. Leininger informed her that she was moving to the University of Utah as Dean of the College of Nursing. The Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Washington approved Dr. Leininger to continue as chair of Dr. Horn’s committee. Dr. Horn defended her dissertation in June of 1975. Her degree was interdisciplinary: sociology, anthropology, and nursing. During the years that Dr. Horn was completing her doctoral studies, a number of graduate students at the Universities of Utah, Washington, Colorado, and elsewhere conceptualized an organization called the Transcultural Nursing Society. The formalization of the organization was accomplished in the early years at the University of Utah, which became the first home of the organization. Organizational meetings of the Transcultural Nursing Society were held periodically, and the first Transcultural Nursing Conference was held at Snowbird, Utah, in 1974.
Dr. Horn was President of the Transcultural Nursing Society from 1975-77 and again in 1995-97. When Dr. Horn was President in 1997, the 23rd TCNS Research Conference was held at the University of Kuopio, Department of Nursing Science, in Kuopio, Finland. This was a memorable conference as the faculty there were familiar with transcultural nursing and had bestowed an honorary degree on Dr. Madeleine Leininger at an earlier date.
The Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Horn as the Executive Director from 2004 to 2022. In 2022, she remained as the chief advisor for the Board of Trustees, a role she continues to serve to this day. Her experience with the Transcultural Nursing Society from the beginning helped her understand where we had been and how we were evolving. The Executive Director position is a volunteer position, assisting in coordination with the Board of Trustees and Executive Director of Operations.
Dr. Horn was honored as the first recipient of the Board of Trustee Lifetime Achievement Award on October 12, 2023, at the 49th Annual Conference of the Transcultural Nursing Society.
********************************************************************
In her acceptance of the award, she stated:
I am honored to receive this first Board of Trustee Award. I would like to thank everyone who made this award possible. It has been my privilege to be a part of the many facets of this organization and to have been mentored by Dr. Madeleine Leininger for many years. Without the continued support of everyone in the Transcultural Nursing Society and the Central Office support from Lisa Dobson, Executive Director of Operations, I would not have been able to serve in my many roles. One does not accomplish things alone, and you are all an amazing group of people!
My experiences in Transcultural Nursing provided me with the knowledge and skills that are integrated into my personal and academic life. Once again, thank you for this incredible honor. I will always cherish it as a major milestone!
Thank you!
Beverly M. Horn, Ph. D, RN, CTN, FTNSS