Gellestrina DiMaggio, a founding faculty member of the College of Nursing at the University of Massachusetts, died on December 21. She was 95 years old.
A native of New London, Connecticut, Professor DiMaggio graduated from Connecticut College in 1944 and the Yale School of Nursing in 1947. She went on to earn a master’s degree from Teachers College at Columbia University.
Professor DiMaggio joined the faculty at the University of Massachusetts as a nursing instructor in 1954. An expert in maternal-child nursing, she and three other women were the first faculty members in what later became the College of Nursing. She taught at the University of Massachusetts until 1969, retiring as full professor.
Later, Professor DiMaggio moved to Boston and became acting director of nursing at Massachusetts General Hospital. She retired in 1985.