Constance Smith Hendricks was appointed dean of the School of Nursing and Allied Health at Tuskegee University in Alabama. Dr. Hendricks has been serving as the founding chair of the Division of Health Sciences at Concordia College in Selma, Alabama.
Dr. Hendricks served on the faculty at Auburn University in Alabama for 17 years. When she retired from teaching at Auburn, she held the Charles W. Barkley Endowed Professorship. In the mid-1980s, Dr. Hendricks was an assistant professor and nursing administrator at Tuskegee University. She also served on the faculty at the University of Alabama Birmingham, Southern University in Louisiana, Hampton University in Virginia, and Kentucky State University.
Dr. Hendricks stated that “I always wanted to be a nurse. I come from a family of educators and nurses. So, while nursing was my first passion, I soon discovered that I could influence many more to positively affect the level of healthcare if I helped educate and graduate more folks like me.”
Dr. Hendricks holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing and a master’s degree in community health from the University of Alabama Birmingham. She was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in clinical nursing research from Boston College.
Congratulations, Dr. Hicks! I wish for you best wishes in your new challenge.
Ethel H. Russaw
Class of 1964
Congregation Dean Hendricks.