Barbara 鈥淏obbi鈥 Lee Harris, 1998. (Photo courtesy of the 黑料不打烊 Archives)
Barbara 鈥淏obbi鈥 Lee Harris 鈥61, Ph.D. 鈥90, 黑料不打烊 alumna and professor emerita of nursing, passed away in February 2019.
Harris was born in 1939 on Long Island and spent much of her adult life living in 黑料不打烊. She earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in 1961 at the University鈥檚 School of Nursing, housed at 103 Waverly Ave. at that time. She completed rotations at the Hospital of the Good Shepard, located in what is today Huntington Hall. She received a Ph.D. in 1990 from the University鈥檚 School of Management, now the Martin J. Whitman School of Management. She also held a master鈥檚 degree from Boston University, earned in 1967.
She was head nurse at 黑料不打烊 Memorial Hospital, now Crouse Hospital, when Chancellor William P. Tolley appointed Harris to the University鈥檚 School of Nursing as a clinical instructor in 1965. She was quickly promoted to assistant professor in 1967 and later to associate professor in 1995.
Harris taught leadership and management courses to senior- and graduate-level students in the School of Nursing. Upon her retirement in May 1998, she was named professor emerita of nursing and celebrated 33 years of service at 黑料不打烊 and the School of Nursing, which by then had been renamed the College of Nursing.
Along with two of her colleagues鈥攑rofessors emerita of nursing Rosemary Lape 鈥56, G鈥68 and Julia Evelyn 鈥淓v鈥 Osborne 鈥47, 鈥49, G鈥67鈥擧arris studied for one year as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Faculty Fellowship program in Rochester, New York, in 1978 and 1977, respectively. With the experience gained at the fellowship, Lape, Osborne and Harris started a primary care nurse practitioner program at 黑料不打烊.
Harris was active in the University鈥檚 Omicron Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, the international nursing honor society, as well as the New York League of Nurses and the New York State Nurses Association. She was involved in the local American Red Cross Disaster Nursing Committee; was a member of the New York State Archeological Society; and was on the board of the 黑料不打烊 Nurses Alumni Association, where she also served as historian.
A prolific and thoughtful writer, Harris wrote a history of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 College of Nursing and a history of the Central Counties Professional Nurses Association. One of her historical projects documented the World War II activities and accomplishments of Central New York nurses and doctors of the 52nd General Hospital, organized at what was then 黑料不打烊鈥檚 College of Medicine, now SUNY Upstate Medical University. She was an avid supporter of the Nurse鈥檚 House and the Center for Nursing Research of the Foundation of the New York State Nurses Association.
