Search SiteSkip to Main Content
Top

1996 Hall of Fame inductee - Catherine C. McGoldrick

Catherine C. McGoldrick

“Catherine’s contributions to nursing education are unparalleled. Through her outstanding administrative skills and untiring efforts, the ADN program grew from 30 students in 1966 to 205 incoming students on 1996. The Community College of Rhode Island has the distinction of being the largest source for registered nurses in the State of Rhode Island.”
Mary Mycroft, Niece of Catherine McGoldrick

Catherine C. McGoldrick was the chief pioneer of RIJC’s nursing division, establishing a program that would become the state’s leading provider of healthcare workers in the state of Rhode Island. She came to the college in 1967 as dean of the Division of Nursing and associate professor. She served on the president’s advisory council, academic dean’s committee, sabbatical committee and the admission committee for nursing. She also was a member of the Nursing Faculty Organization and a representative for the Board of Regents.

Prior to joining the college, McGoldrick served as the director of nursing at Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket for 10 years. She was president of the Rhode Island Board of Nurse Registration and Nursing Education. She also was a member of many professional nursing organizations, including New England Council on Higher Education for Nursing, Inter-institutional Committee for Nursing, Statewide Planning Committee for Nursing, Rhode Island Hospital Coordinating Council and Special Committee on Nurse Practitioners.

McGoldrick had a distinguished military career. She entered the Army Reserve in 1945, retired as a full colonel in the reserves in 1979 and held the position of chief nurse in New England. At the time of her promotion to full colonel, she was one of the six nurses to have reached this rank. She holds a diploma in Nursing from Sturdy Memorial Hospital School of Nursing and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Nursing from Boston University School of Nursing.

McGoldrick passed away in 1986. The college posthumously inducted her into its Hall of Fame in 1996.