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“When you look at change and risk, consider the worst thing that could happen and, if you can tolerate that, then full speed ahead.” This philosophy has taken Colleen Conway-Welch to places she probably never imagined when she first fell in love with the idea of being a nurse as a child reading the Cherry Ames book series about a daring RN. Her own adventurous spirit stems from her childhood. “I was in 17 schools by the seventh grade. I didn’t know there was another way. It taught me that change is fun, and taking risks is the norm.” After completing her undergraduate degree at Georgetown, Conway-Welch and two friends decided to head to California to work. Although the others ultimately didn’t make the move, Conway-Welch decided to go further. She accepted a labor and delivery position at Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu. “We had no interns or residents so the nurses managed the labor, and it was frustrating for me to have to step aside for the doctors to catch the baby. That ultimately triggered my interest in getting my masters and becoming a certified nurse midwife.” Of course, a gentle nudge didn’t hurt either. Her two good friends from Georgetown had begun working on their masters and tried in vain to talk Conway-Welch, who was now living in California, to join them at Catholic University. “Unbeknownst to me, one of them filled out an application and turned it in, and I got a letter of acceptance. I called my friend and said, ‘This has your fingerprints all over it.’ She said, ‘Well, you were making the wrong decision.’ School started in two weeks so I jumped in my car and went.” A few years later she earned her PhD and launched her academic career. One of her role models was Jean Watson, dean of nursing at the University of Colorado, who Conway-Welch said was “very much a free thinker and very interested in the role that art and science should play in the education of a masters-prepared nurse.” Their long discussions helped Conway-Welch clarify her vision of how nurse leaders should be educated and bring those ideas to life at Vanderbilt. While she and her team have built a world-class program, becoming dean was a slightly overwhelming adventure in the beginning. With no real fundraising experience, she was asked to approach local businessman Ted Welch for a donation during her first month as dean. The night before, she recalled, she spent a lot of time rehearsing her presentation in the mirror. The next day, “I got about two sentences out, and he said, ‘How much do you want?’ I said a number, and he said, ‘OK.’ Then I said, ‘but you’ve got to hear the rest!’” Two weeks later the single father, whose youngest daughter was enrolled in the nursing program, called the dean to ask her to dinner. They’ve now been married 24 years. Conway-Welch said she is very lucky to have three wonderful stepdaughters and five step-grandchildren in her life. She loves to travel, snow ski and scuba dive. “I intend to sky dive in the next couple of years, only because I’ve never done it before.” She concluded, “I have no intentions of retiring because I love what I do. I’m very blessed in my life because Nashville, Vanderbilt, nursing and Ted Welch all came together for me at a very special time in my life, and it’s given me a platform to do all kinds of things I never dreamed of.”

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