Dr. Mary Bennett, director of the WKU School of Nursing, is the 2017 inductee into the WKU Libraries Open Access Hall of Fame. “We are acknowledging individuals who have enhanced the works in TopSCHOLAR®, the Research and Creative Activity Database of WKU,” said Deana Groves, department head of Library Technical Services at WKU. “Dr. Bennett’s scholarly achievements have drawn thousands of researchers from around the world with downloads through this quality open access platform.”

Bennett, DNS, is the director of the WKU School of Nursing, which has programs ranging from the Associate of Science in Nursing to the Doctor of Nursing Practice. Her research interests are the effects of various complementary and alternative therapies on stress and natural killer (NK) cell activity, decision making in end of life care, and workforce development and socialization of health care professionals. She has published 18 articles, book chapters, and other scholarly works on TopSCHOLAR® which have been downloaded more than 24,000 times from 57 countries. Her most requested article, “The Effect of Mirthful Laughter on Stress and Natural Killer Cell Activity,” has been downloaded over 17,000 times since 2009, placing it fourth in all time downloads.  Dr. Bennett received her Doctor of Nursing Science from Rush University in Chicago and MSN, BSN and ASN from Indiana State University. Since beginning her nursing career, she has held several clinical positions, from working as RN in ICU to serving as a nurse practitioner for the Indiana Air National Guard. Her teaching experience started with an instruction position at Lakeland Community College and then she returned to her alma mater at ISU to teach in the nursing programs where she ultimately served as the assistant dean of the School of Nursing before joining WKU in 2007 to serve as the first director of the newly formed School of Nursing.

Bennett will be honored at a reception on Wednesday, October 25 in Helm Library, Room 100, 3-4 pm with remarks and award presentation at 3:15pm. Everyone is invited to attend. For more information about TopSCHOLAR® go to http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ or contact Todd Seguin, Scholarly Communication Specialist, at 270-745-6160.