Barbara J. Kirschner Honors College Scholarship
Dr. Leonard Kirschner, WSU retired faculty member, established this endowment in memory of his late former wife, Barbara Kirschner.
Barb was born on January 19, 1925 to Charles and Lavona Cook on a farm in Patch Grove, Wis. She graduated from Central High School in Omaha, Neb. Following service in the Women's Marine Corps Reserve during World War II, she graduated from Immanuel Hospital School of Nursing in Omaha. She then moved to Madison, Wis. where she met her future husband, Leonard Kirschner. They were married in 1950, divorced in 1978, and remained best of friends through the end of her life. Barb worked at Pullman Memorial Hospital for many years while raising their family.
Barb was the first planner for the Whitman County Mental Retardation program and served as President of the Whitman County Mental Retardation Board prior to the establishment of Epton House. She was one of the founders of the Pullman Family Planning Center (now Planned Parenthood of Spokane and Whitman Counties) and was its Executive Director until attending the Harbor-UCLA training program to become one of the first Registered Nurse Practitioners in the Inland Empire. In that capacity, she was a popular, entertaining, and influential speaker on matters of contraception and abortion. She also was an outreach worker for the Whitman County Council on Aging and traveled throughout the county providing physical examinations for senior citizens. She was employed by the North Idaho Central District Health Department in Lewiston, Idaho in its Family Planning program. She was also its epidemiologist, a specialist in sexually transmitted diseases, and AIDS Prevention Coordinator until her retirement in 1992.
Barb was a member of the American Nurses Association and served as a board member of the Washington State Nurses Association; she also served two terms as the WSNA's second vice president. She was a member of the American Legion, the ACLU, the YWCA, and AARP.
Criteria for scholarship
Students must…-
Be enrolled in the Honors College at WSU
Preference will be given to…
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Honors students majoring in Nursing
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(Absent any qualified nursing students) then Honors students majoring in Fine Arts or demonstrating an interest in Theater
Awarded funds may be used for…
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Tuition and fees
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