An Impactful Legacy

Judith P. Rooks, CNM, MPH, MS, FACNM August 18, 1941-June 1, 2020

A legend in nursing, Judith Pence Rooks, passed away at her home in Portland, Oregon, on June 1, 2020. She is survived by her husband Charles and their son, Christopher. While she left her imprint on the history of Frontier Nursing University, her impact was felt throughout the nursing profession. Rooks was born in Spokane, Washington, on August 18, 1941. She earned a BS in Nursing from the University of Washington in 1963. From 1963-64, she worked as a staff nurse at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane and King County Hospital in Seattle. She then headed east, working as a nurse at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland in 1965. She earned an MS in Medical and Surgical Nursing from Catholic University in 1967. In 1969 and 1970, Rooks was a vocal advocate for women’s reproductive rights in Georgia and played a leading role advancing what became the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision, Doe v. Bolton. Rooks worked as an epidemiologist in the Centers for Disease Control’s Family Planning Division in Atlanta from 1970-72 and 1974-1978. In between, she earned a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and became a Certified Nurse-Midwife at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Her work as an educator began as an assistant professor at the San Jose State University School of Nursing from 1967-69. She also served as an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland from 1978-79.

Her extensive knowledge and expertise took her to Washington, D.C., where she served as an Expert in the Office of Population Affairs within the Office of the Surgeon General in the United States Department of Health and Human Services from 1979-80. Additionally, she served as a Project Officer and Public Health Advisor for the United States Agency for International Development’s Office of Population from 1980-82. Rooks’ expansive and impactful career also included a courtesy appointment as Instructor at the Department of Community and Family Health in the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health from 1995-2005. She served as the Director of the Nature and Management of Labor Pain Symposium sponsored by the New York Academy of Medicine and the Maternity Center Association, from 2000-2001.

FNU was greatly impacted by Rooks, who was responsible for developing and teaching FNU’s first course on the Professional Role of the Nurse Midwife from 1995-97. For her countless contributions to both FNU and the nursing profession, Rooks was presented with an honorary doctorate from FNU in 2012.

Rooks, who also served as president of the American College of NurseMidwives (ACNM) from 1983-85, authored more than 80 published papers and the 1997 book, Midwifery & Childbirth in America, which remains an invaluable medical resource today. She was the principal investigator of several major studies and served as a consultant to many developing countries on family planning and midwifery programs. Her influence and leadership were instrumental in re-introducing nitrous oxide for use in childbirth.

Naturally, her career achievements included a long list of awards and accolades, including the 1993 Martha May Elliot Award, the American Public Health Association’s highest honor in the field of Maternal and Child Health. She also received ACNM’s highest honor, the Hattie Hemschemeyer Award, for continuous outstanding contributions to nurse-midwifery and maternal and child health care, in 1998. In 1999, Rooks received the National Perinatal Association’s National Award for Outstanding Contributions to Maternal and Child Health. Judith’s passion and commitment will be sorely missed.

“While she left her imprint on the history of Frontier Nursing University, her impact was felt throughout the nursing profession.”