Dr. Marlene and John Rosenkoetter Establish Endowments for Research

The late Marlene Rosenkoetter, RN, PhD, often noted that her life motto could be summed up in one word—perseverance. She had a long career which included administrative positions both in practice and education, serving as the evening supervisor for St. John's Mercy Hospital in St. Louis; Founding Dean of the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington; and Dean of the College of Nursing at Augusta University. She completed more than 50 consultations to hospitals and schools of nursing worldwide, visiting 30 countries in the process.

In 1990, she was inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Nursing. Marlene was most proud of that accomplishment, as well as her extensive contributions to nursing via publishing and presentations. However, what she found most rewarding was the impact she had on her students.

“Marlene’s proudest moments always occurred when a former student would contact her, thank her for the impact she had on their careers and give her some credit for their success because of the values she instilled in them,” said her widower, John Rosenkoetter. “Mentoring, not just sharing knowledge, but inculcating values and purpose in her students, was for her the highest purpose.”

The Rosenkoetters combined this drive to inspire and mentor nursing students with a desire to give back by establishing the Marlene M. Rosenkoetter Endowed Research Award and the Research Professorship Endowment through a planned estate gift.

“As we were retiring and realizing how richly we had been rewarded over the years, we had a sense of wanting to return a portion of those blessings to others,” said John. “Through these endeavors, the passion for excellence that Marlene demonstrated in mentoring, research, teaching and practice will be conveyed and imparted to generations of nurses yet to come, so that they can continue to promote improved health care at all levels through their efforts.”

After Marlene passed away in 2019, John continued the couple’s philosophy of sharing their blessings with others. In 2021 he established the John L. Rosenkoetter Scholarship Endowment Fund for Clinical and Counseling Psychology at Augusta University and was so moved by how it helped the scholarship’s first recipient that he doubled his gift the following year to help more students.

“Our intent throughout was we have been blessed richly…and we genuinely wanted to…give back, some of what we had gained,” John said. “Both of us were the first in our families to go to college and achieve graduate degrees. To say we came from humble beginnings would be accurate. And yet we reached the end of our working careers in a comfortable place. It seemed the right thing to do to ‘give back’ in the areas from which we had gained.”

Contact Mary L. McCormack today at 706-721-5027 or mmccormack1@augusta.edu to learn more about how you can create your legacy at Augusta University.