- Date Of Birth: August 11, 1945
- Date Of Death: February 25, 2015
- State: Louisiana
Dr. Barbara Gail Tumulty, 69 years old of New Orleans entered into eternal rest on Wednesday February 25th, 2015, in the presence of her loving family and her Lord and Savior. Gail, as she liked to be called, was born August 11, 1945, in Council Grove, Kansas. Gail was a cherished mother, grandmother, sister and friend and will leave a void to all. She retired last year from Loyola University where she served as a professor of nursing. She devoted her life to educating others. She was the beloved wife of Joseph Norman Tumulty Sr. (deceased) and mother to 3 sons and daughters in law, Emery and Theresa Tumulty, Joseph Jr. and Leticia Tumulty and Patrick and Marletta Tumulty; grandchildren, Kyle, Taylor and Sean; and step children Timothy, James, Susan Tumulty and Maureen Tegerdine as well as one brother Stanley Morton. Gail was preceded in death by her parents, Willard and Anne Morton and her sister Nadine Lehman.
Dr. Barbara Gail Tumulty, Professor Emeritus of Nursing, entered into
eternal rest on Wednesday, February 25th, 2015, in the presence of her
loving family. Gail or “Dr. T”, as she liked to be called, was a cherished
mother, grandmother, sister and friend and will leave a void to all. She
was the beloved wife of Joseph Norman Tumulty, Sr. (deceased), mother of
three children and four step-children, as well as grandmother of several
grandchildren and great grandchildren.
University New Orleans.
May her care and dedication to others live on in the legacy she has left
through her teaching and nursing.
From the School of Nursing website:
Dr. Tumulty, who devoted her life to educating others, retired last year
from Loyola University where she served as a professor of nursing since
1998. In her tenure at Loyola, Dr. Tumulty served as faculty, program
coordinator, and was appointed the first director of the “School” of
Nursing (when elevated from departmental status as a result of Loyola’s
report entitled Pathways: Toward our Second Century following Hurricane
Katrina). Dr. Tumulty was regarded as an outstanding educator and mentor
of students and faculty.
Dr. Tumulty’s arrival at Loyola brought a diverse cultural perspective to
teaching in the School of Nursing. Her position as Associate Executive
Director of Hospital Operations at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and
Research Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 1996 to1998 required
Saudi Arabia succeeded in fostering education and professionalism in a
very male dominated social structure. Her experiences in Saudi Arabia as
well as at other universities and health care organizations in the United
States allowed her to impart knowledge and understanding of transcultural
care of the highest standard.
From 2001 through 2006, Dr. Tumulty was awarded almost $2 million in
federal and state grants to develop the online Health Care Systems
Management (HCSM) MSN program, the first online program at Loyola. Dr.
Tumulty’s innovative design of HCSM program differed from the traditional
core courses that would prepare nurse leader to collaborate with other
business centers in health care organizations. This strategy of removing
nursing as a “silo” industry and focusing on interdisciplinary
decision-making was supported in the Institute of Medicine’s 2001 landmark
publication, Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st
Century.
Dr. Tumulty’s introduction of online education to Loyola became a model
for course management during times of disaster and university closure.
When Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans in 2005 and
forced Loyola to suspend classes for a full semester, the online Health
Care Systems Management Program was the only program on campus to continue
with minimal interruption (five days during which Dr. Tumulty worked with
Dr. Tumulty’s swift efforts to get the program back online allowed
students to progress in their courses and to graduate on time.
During her career, Dr. Tumulty authored several research studies and
published numerous manuscripts in refereed professional journals. In
addition, she published refereed book chapters both nationally and
internationally. Her publications address innovative practices in health
care and in online education. Most recently, Dr. Tumulty co-authored a
book detailing her interviews with nurses regarding their experiences in
managing patients and other health care personnel during Hurricane
Katrina. The book titled Voices of Angels: Survivors of Katrina, will be
published in 2015.
Dr. Tumulty was a noted speaker at national and international conferences
on subjects including interdisciplinary collaboration in health care,
nursing job satisfaction, role redesign, and leadership characteristics.
Most recently, Dr. Tumulty was asked to speak at refereed conferences in
Australia and in Spain on evidence-based strategies to enhance online
learning as well as use of innovative technologies for teaching online.
Dr. Tumulty will be remembered fondly at Loyola by faculty, staff, and
University. More importantly, she will be remembered as our friend and
colleague.
Kurt Bindewald
Director of University Ministry
Associate Director of Mission and Ministry Loyola University New Orleans
