Health Dean Barbara Kitchen retires from Midway Univ.

Mayor Grayson Vandegrift proclaimed June 28 as Barbara Kitchen
Day in honor of her service. Dr. John Marsden, president, is at right.

Dr. Barbara Kitchen, longtime dean of health sciences at Midway University, has retired with honors.

The university Board of Trustees granted Kitchen the title of Faculty Emerita, which was presented to her at the May commencement ceremony. At a June 28 reception, a plaque honoring her was unveiled in the Anne Hart Raymond Building, where she worked.

Kitchen first came to Midway in 2001 as a faculty member in the nursing program. In 2004, she was appointed chair of the nursing programs, and in 2005, chair of the Nursing and Science Division. In 2014, when the college became a university, she was appointed dean of the School of Health Sciences.

Dr. John P. Marsden, university president, said Kitchen has run a highly respected program and been an ambassador for Midway University in the health-care industry. “She has had a tremendous impact on the education and preparation of numerous students,” Marsden said. “She has developed and fostered many community partnerships so that our nursing students could have clinical experiences as well as community service projects.”

Kitchen was highly involved with the task force that helped establish The Homeplace at Midway, a nursing home and assisted-living facility.