$2M gift funds College of Nursing facelift

The College of Nursing lobby before renovation. The blue wall and non-functioning escalator behind it will be removed. (click on image for larger file size)

M. Christine Schwartz has never forgotten her days as a young nursing student. Now, young nursing students will never forget her.

The College of Nursing is undergoing an indoor facelift thanks to the generosity of the T & C Schwartz Family Foundation, which is headed by Schwartz, a graduate of the college.

Schwartz’s $2.2 million gift will be used for several projects, including the removal of an inoperable escalator, freeing up 2,500 square feet of space on four floors. Construction is scheduled to be completed in June.

“During a recent visit to the college, Dean (Terri) Weaver and I recognized that the building needed enhancements to meet the future needs of nursing education,” Schwartz said.

“This donation represents my deep commitment to nursing, for the betterment of humankind.”

The building’s lobby will be renovated to increase communal and work space for students. The area used to simulate clinical scenarios in hospital settings through the use of high-fidelity models will also be expanded.

Meeting space for research teams and student work groups will be constructed, and other parts of the building will be modified. All of the new areas will be named after Schwartz.

“This gift will enhance our educational and research missions and maintain our pre-eminence in the Midwest and beyond,” Weaver said.

“It will physically change the look and scope of the building and enable us to continue to provide a first-class education, and generate cutting-edge discoveries that will change health care.”

Schwartz earned a bachelor’s of science degree in nursing at UIC and a master’s of science in health education from the Urbana campus.

She is a member of the College of Nursing’s Dean’s External Advisory Board and the President’s Council of the University of Illinois Foundation, and a life member of the University of Illinois Alumni Association. She is active in the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society.

Correction: an earlier version of this story said M. Christine Schwartz was a graduate of the College Nursing’s regional program at Urbana-Champaign.