Ohio University announces transformative gift establishing the Ohio University BSN - Joyce N. Herrold, M.D. Nursing Program at Lancaster Campus

The Ohio University Foundation is announcing a transformational gift from Joyce N. Herrold, M.D., to extend the Ohio University Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program to the Lancaster Campus.

Dr. Herrold’s gift, the largest documented to Ohio University’s Lancaster Campus, allows expansion of the four-year BSN program by providing support for the physical training space and equipment needed to provide students with the highest-quality educational experience on the Lancaster Campus.

“I want to thank Dr. Joyce Herrold for her generous gift, which will expand access to health care in our region,” said Ohio University President Hugh Sherman. “This gift also provides invaluable experiential learning opportunities for more students and will ultimately allow us an opportunity to better serve our regional communities.”

Dr. Herrold, a native of Lancaster, Ohio, is a 1954 graduate of Ohio University who earned her medical degree from the University of Cincinnati. Early in her career, Dr. Herrold traveled internationally and headed a department of clinical research for a global pharmaceutical company. She later practiced oncology in California until her retirement.

Dr. Herrold’s inspirational gift connects a family tradition of support for Ohio University, starting with the Herrold family gift in 1816 of furnishing the lumber for Cutler Hall on the Athens Campus. This gift provides the funding to construct a nursing lab within Herrold Hall, improve a classroom outfitted specifically for nursing students, and equip an open nursing practicum and observation lab, among other improvements.

“Ohio University Lancaster has been an area of focus for me for some time. It was important for me to offer support now to create a program for health care professionals to be educated in our community today and in the future,” Herrold said. “Knowing that the nursing program will be housed in Herrold Hall, named for my father and mother, Gordon and Lucille Herrold, makes this especially meaningful for me.”

Dr. Herrold is offering her support at a time when there is a dire need for new nurses nationally because of an aging population and looming retirements of nurses on the horizon. Across the central and southeastern Ohio region, a gross shortage of nurses is already being experienced.

Before this gift, the Lancaster Campus was the only campus of Ohio University without a nursing program on site. This substantial gift allows Ohio University School of Nursing to actively pursue the opportunity to expand its already-sizable footprint of nursing education across the region.

David Scheffler, mayor of Lancaster, acknowledges the proposed program’s impact on the region. “As the population growth continues in the city of Lancaster and the greater Fairfield County area, the demand for health care professionals will also increase,” he said. “Ohio University has provided high quality degrees for decades and this new program location ensures that nurses will now be educated right here in our community.”

Nicole Pennington, OHIO’s Executive Dean of Regional Higher Education, notes the impact Dr. Herrold’s gift will have on the growth of Ohio University’s regional offerings. “Ohio University has a long history of educating and providing well-prepared nurses across the region and beyond for many decades,” Pennington said. “As a professional who has devoted my life to nursing and nursing education, nothing makes me prouder than to be able to grow our program across our locations.”

As this expansion to the Lancaster campus is fully contingent on approval by the Ohio Board of Nursing, Ohio University’s School of Nursing will begin the process of seeking approval for the expansion of the program to the Lancaster campus immediately.

Jarrod Tudor, Dean of Campus and Community Relations, expresses gratitude on behalf of Ohio University Lancaster for Dr. Herrold’s generosity. “Dr. Herrold has created a truly transformational event in the history of Ohio University Lancaster,” said Tudor. “Ohio University Lancaster is now well-positioned to supply the nurses needed in our immediate area because of this donation from Dr. Herrold.”