In Memoriam
M. Janice Nelson, EdD
Founding College of Nursing dean Janice Nelson at the unveiling of her official portrait in September 2000. The painting hangs in the College's lobby in the New Academic Building.
The Upstate community lost a great friend, leader and educator on January 1, 2022. Dr. M. Janice Nelson is remembered as a gracious soul, a ferocious advocate for nursing education and an ardent philanthropist.
The Nursing Alumni Association and the Upstate Foundation express deepest gratitude for Janice Nelson’s work, devotion and legacy, and extend sincere condolences to her family.
To read the complete obituary, click here.
Janice requested that contributions be made to nursing scholarships at Upstate in her honor (see donation form below). Simply designate the Dean M. Janice Nelson Nursing Scholarship Endowment when making your gift. To donate by phone, call 315-464-4416. Or mail your check to the Upstate Foundation, Dean M. Janice Nelson Nursing Scholarship Endowment, 750 E. Adams St., Syracuse, NY 13210.
Dr. Nelson is remembered by her students, colleagues, friends, and family for more than 50 years of dedicated service to the nursing profession and to the healthcare community. As an educator, administrator, practitioner, scholar and volunteer, she devoted her life and career to the growth and development of those she taught, led, mentored and nurtured.
Earning her doctorate in nursing education from the Teachers College of Columbia University in 1977, Janice came to Syracuse in 1980 and served six years as assistant administrator and director of nursing at Upstate University Hospital. For part of that time she was also co-director of Upstate’s Nursing Education Program.
In 1986, she became founding dean and professor of the College of Nursing at Upstate Medical University, with many notable achievements during her decade-long tenure. Unusual for its time, the College’s curriculum was designed as a combined baccalaureate and master’s degree program, to prepare students for advanced practice in a clinical specialization. In 1991, the programs were granted full initial accreditation by the National League for Nursing. Over the next few years, programs were established for the role of clinical nurse specialist and nurse practitioner.
“Establishing an alumni association is a critical piece of the whole when the task at hand is to establish a college,” Dr. Nelson wrote in the first issue of the alumni newsletter.
Through her leadership, the Nursing Alumni Association was chartered in 1992 with a primary purpose to provide philanthropic support for the College of Nursing. A few years later, the alumni association honored Dr. Nelson by creating an endowed scholarship in her name. Since that first award in 1995, more than 500 nursing alumni scholarships totaling nearly $400,000 have been awarded. The Nursing Alumni Association is administered by the Upstate Foundation.
Dr. Nelson served on boards of numerous professional organizations and has an extensive list of honors received, including lifetime achievement, hall of fame and distinguished alumni awards.
In 2010, she became a founding member of the Upstate Legacy Society by making a provision in her will naming the Dean M. Janice Nelson Nursing Scholarship Endowment as a beneficiary. Most recently, Janice received the 2019 President’s Award for Individual Philanthropy. At the time of her passing, she had marked 39 consecutive years of giving to the Upstate Foundation.
"Building Upstate's College of Nursing has been a life's dream and the fundamental project of a life's work; indeed, for me, it has been a rare privilege." - Janice Nelson