Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor gives $1 million to UF Nursing

Recognizing an increased need for research to address the challenges of today’s nurses, renowned researcher and Gator Nurse alumna Linda Aiken, the Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor of Nursing and a professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, announced her intention to create the Linda Harman Aiken Chair. Aiken’s planned gift supports her 2016 commitment of $1 million to endow the Linda Harman Aiken Professorship at the UF College of Nursing.

Aiken’s gift comes at a time when the nursing profession faces a work environment like no other in history. Most recently, many nurses are experiencing heightened stress, which can lead to burnout due to extreme workloads brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Aiken conducts research on the health care workforce and quality of health care in the U.S. and around the world. She is the author of more than 400 scientific papers and has recently investigated why the nation’s health care infrastructure has struggled during this medical emergency. According to her research, chronic understaffing of hospitals and nursing homes left nurses struggling to adequately care for patients, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.