Signe Skott Cooper, the long-time nursing educator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, died last week at a hospice care center in Madison. She was 92 years old.
A native of Iowa, Cooper enrolled in nursing program at the University of Wisconsin. After becoming a registered nurse, she served in the Pacific theater during World War II. After returning to the United States, she was named head nurse of the obstetrical unit at the University of Wisconsin Hospital. She was named an instructor of nursing in 1948 and was promoted to assistant professor in 1951. While holding a full-time teaching post, Cooper completed a master’s degree in education from the University of Minnesota.
While continuing to teach nursing, in 1955 she was appointed to the faculty of the University of Wisconsin Extension. After retiring from teaching in 1983, she spent the next 15 years as the School of Nursing’s resident historian. Cooper pledged her estate to the University of Wisconsin Foundation and, as a result, the new home of the nursing school will be named in her honor.