University Times

Former School of Nursing faculty member Jacqueline Mae Parris Lamb, of Regent Square, died March 28, 2016, of ovarian cancer. She was 76.

Lamb earned a BSN at Alderson-Broaddus College in 1961 and completed graduate studies at Pitt, earning a master’s in nursing in 1975 and a PhD in higher education in 1984.

Born in a small town in West Virginia, Lamb became a world traveler, living, working and visiting throughout the world, including in England, Italy, North Africa and Germany.

A believer in the value of international study, she pioneered study-abroad programs for Pitt nursing students, beginning with a two-week program in England in 1990. She later developed programs in Copenhagen; Palermo, Italy; and Basel, Switzerland.

Lamb was an assistant professor in the nursing school for 25 years. In addition to her faculty position, she was a highly respected pediatric nurse at Children’s Hospital.

Among Lamb’s awards and honors were a 1994 Dean’s Distinguished Teaching Award and a 1995 Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award.

She retired from full-time teaching in the Department of Health Promotion and Development in 2002, but continued to coordinate nursing study-abroad opportunities.

Nursing colleague Catherine Bender said Lamb was passionate about extending to students her love and appreciation of world travel — not only as a way of learning about different cultures, but also as a way of learning about health care in other cultures.

She had a particular devotion to undergraduate education. “Preparing young people to become nurses was so very important to her,” Bender said. Students valued her teaching and mentoring and many maintained contact with Lamb over the years, she said.

In addition to her passion for travel, Lamb was an avid reader and loved good movies, especially independent and foreign films, Bender said.

She is survived by an aunt, Emma Jean Smith; a special cousin, Carolyn Weyant; and numerous other cousins.

The family suggests memorial donations to the School of Nursing. Funeral services were held April 1 in West Virginia.

The nursing school is planning a memorial service; details remain incomplete.

—Kimberly K. Barlow