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Dorothy Olson and her husband, Leland Olson. |
A native of Bloomfield, Neb., Olson and her husband of 66 years, Leland Olson, M.D., have been longtime contributors to UNMC for a variety of women’s health and university initiatives.
In 2007, they provided funding for the Olson Center for Women’s Health, which occupies the entire fourth floor of the Durham Outpatient Center. The Olson Center, which was originally established with a major gift from the Olsons in 1993, provides comprehensive services for women in one outpatient facility.
Since 1986, the Olsons have made multiple gifts to the University of Nebraska Foundation worth millions of dollars. These gifts have included: funding for two floors of UNMC’s Lied Transplant Center, creation of a resident research fund and a distinguished chair for UNMC’s Ob/Gyn department, an endowed chair in the UNMC College of Nursing, and two endowed chairs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
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Dorothy Olson received her nursing degree from UNMC in 1943 and her bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1967.
She is survived by her husband and her three children, David Olson, M.D. (spouse Lynn Scott, M.D.), Karen Olson, M.D., and Nancy Olson; grandchildren, Kendra Swanson, M.D. (spouse Mitchell Swanson) and Christian Olson; great grandchildren, Nathan Swanson and Elizabeth Swanson; a brother Robert Hodges (spouse Sally). She was preceded in death by parents, Henry and Ruth Hodges, and sisters, Betty Bouleware and Patricia Sewell.
Nurses are special people. There is nobody more caring. Dorothy Olson embodied everything that makes nurses special. She had a great passion for nursing and truly loved UNMC. We will be forever grateful for her family’s incredible support of the medical center and our deepest sympathies go out to them.
The College of Nursing mourns the loss of a steadfast alumna and wonderful friend. Dorothy's love of the nursing profession and of UNMC was evident in the generosity she and her husband showed when they established the Dorothy Hodges Olson Endowed Chair in Women’s Health Nursing. This chair has helped the college attract nationally-known nurse researchers whose work has touched the lives of countless women with breast cancer and other diseases.
I am grateful to Leland and Dorothy Olson, and particularly to Dorothy, for providing the funds to support the Dorothy Hodges Olson Endowed Chair position in the College of Nursing. As the current holder of the chair position established in 1994, I take the responsibility and opportunities the position allows very seriously and dedicate my research, teaching, and practice efforts in cancer care and women’s health to Dorothy, a visionary who truly appreciated the value of a professional nurse. The College of Nursing has lost a wonderful alumna and supporter.
Dorothy Olson has to be one of the most caring and compassionate benefactors that UNMC has ever known. Proud of the degree she earned and proud of her profession, she never lost sight of the importance of the university to her whole family.