Former DUSON Dean Dorothy J. Brundage passed away Sunday, November 15, 2020. Her daughter Ellen and son David are not planning a public service. In lieu of flowers, the family wishes donations in her memory be made to the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, 1924 Capital Boulevard, Raleigh, NC, 27604. Those in the DUSON Community who are interested may donate through this JustGiving webpage, through which your donation will be sent straight to the Food Bank.

Dr. Brundage served as interim Dean at DUSON from 1987 to 1991 and was a steadying force during some very unstable times since the fate of DUSON was somewhat uncertain. A long-time and well-respected faculty member, Dorothy assumed the dean role and focused on maintaining stability and keeping DUSON operating normally as well as the master’s program students engaged and challenged. Dorothy also supported the teaching, advising, and governance responsibilities of the faculty members.

An expert clinician, her special areas of expertise were in both obstetrical and medical-surgical nursing. She remained engaged clinically while teaching at the school of nursing and regularly consulted with clinical staff, making rounds on the medical intensive care unit to stay current in her clinical knowledge. Within her specialty of renal nursing, she published several books and research papers and encouraged her students to explore and develop their scholarly work.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Dorothy received her BSN in 1953 from Frances Payne Bolton School of nursing at Case Western Reserve University. For several years thereafter, she worked as a nurse before earning her MSN in 1968 from Emory University in Atlanta. She earned her PhD in 1980 (an uncommon achievement at that time for nurses) from Walden University.

Dr. Brundage arrived at Duke as an instructor in 1968 and was quickly promoted to assistant professor in 1970 and later to associate professor in 1979. After the end of her role as interim dean, Dr. Brundage remained here at DUSON as a faculty member and was actively engaged in implementing new programs and developing curricula for the new nurse practitioner programs.

Deeply committed to DUSON and our work, she was in attendance at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Pearson Building expansion in 2012.