Florence Schorske Wald was born in New York City in 1917. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from Mt. Holyoke College in 1938, her Master of Nursing (M.N.) from Yale University in 1941, and her Master in Science (M.S.) from Yale University in 1956. She was awarded the honorary Doctor of Law degree from the University of Bridgeport in 1967, the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Mt. Holyoke College in 1978, and the honorary Doctor of Medical Sciences from Yale University in 1995.

Positions held

• Staff Nurse, New York Visiting Nurse Service, 1941-1943
• Research Assistant, Surgical Metabolism Unit, College of Physicians and Surgeons, 1946-1952
• Instructor, Rutgers University School of Nursing, 1955-1957
• Assistant Professor of Psychiatric Nursing, Yale University School of Nursing, 1957-1958
• Acting Dean and Associate Professor, Yale University School of Nursing, 1958-1959
• Fourth Dean and Associate Professor, Yale University School of Nursing, 1959-1968
• Research Associate, Yale University School of Nursing, 1968-1970
• Planning Staff and Board Member, Hospice Inc., Branford, Connecticut, 1971-1975
• Clinical Professor (Associate Clinical Professor, 1970-1980), 1980-present, Yale University School of Nursing
• Principle Investigator, A Feasibiligy Study for Care of the Terminally Ill in State Prisons, National Prison Hospice Association, 1997-present.

Deans Diers, Arnstein, and Wald, September 1972.

Dean Wald greets the new Dean Catherine Gilliss, April 1998.