This past week was bittersweet when we said good-bye to Dr. Lois Howland as she retired from the faculty of USD. While we all wish her much happiness in her retirement it is sad for the nursing community and USD to lose someone of her accomplishments. Dr. Howland came to USD in 2007 after completing a Post-Doctorate fellowship in Behavioral Clinical Research at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her program of research has been in better understanding the impact of psychological stress within families experiencing stress.

Dr. Howland’s teaching expertise crossed all of the USD nursing programs and was especially impactful in the MEPN program as she was the lead faculty for the “Care of Populations” course taken by 2^nd year MEPNs. Students were exposed to the implications of community health problems as they impact nursing practice with a special emphasis on epidemiology.