EMBARKING ON A NEW ERA - UCLA School of Nursing

1950SRoberta J. Gerds (Langton), B.S. ’54, M.N. ’77Gerds was a pre-nursing student at UCLA when theSchool of Nursing began to admit students to the newbaccalaureate program; more than two decades after shegraduated, she returned to the school and earned hermaster’s degree in 1977. During her career Gerdsworked in staff nursing (mainly in maternity/labor and delivery settings), public health nursing andteaching. She was a childbirth educator who taughttraining classes for other childbirth educators and wasactive in the Childbirth Education Association. Gerds’teaching career included 18 years at California StateUniversity, Bakersfield, from which she retired in 2000.She was active in the community, working with the Maternal,Child and Adolescent Health Council of KernCounty, the Breastfeeding Promotion Coalition,Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies of Kern County, andthe KCEOC Health Advisory Council. In retirementGerds has been working with members of her church toassist people in the congregation who need help in managinghealthcare needs.1950Ann Larae Ivey, B.S. ’57, M.S. ’64After earning her B.S. as part of the school’s fourthgraduating class, Ivey became a public health nurse forthe City of San Bernardino. With five years of experience,she returned to UCLA and earned an M.S. inNursing Administration. Ivey then went back to theSan Bernardino County Health Department as a supervisingpublic health nurse and progressed throughpositions of increasing responsibility until she becamechief of community health services, a position she heldfor 10 years. In that role, Ivey worked actively to solvethe problems of the community by collaborating withand leading communities in addressing issues of childrenat risk, homelessness, hearing impairment, ethics,teen pregnancy, and healthcare reform. In 1999, Iveywas involved in the planning and implementation of aMasters in Nursing program at California State UniversitySan Bernardino; she was a consultant for theprogram from 1999 until her death in 2008. Ivey alsoserved as an associate clinical professor at Loma LindaUniversity School of Nursing for 25 years and as a lecturerat the UCLA School of Nursing.Rose Marie Nesbit, B.S. ’57Having graduated from the school with highest honors,Nesbit went on to work as a public health nurse for theLos Angeles County Health Department in Inglewood,and later at the Santa Monica Health Center assistingthe assistant district health officer in providing immunizationsfor parochial school children throughout LosAngeles County. Well after Nesbit’s formal nursing careerended, she has continued to promote the professionthrough her support of the school. Nesbit was chair ofthe Board of Advisors under Dean Ada Lindsey andDean Marie Cowan. With her husband, Dr. RichardNesbit, she was active on a committee that successfullyraised funds to establish the Lulu Wolf Hassenplug EndowedChair in honor of the school’s founding dean.