Betty Bear, PhD, RN, CNM, FACNM, FAAN
Professor Emeritus

Dr Elizabeth M Bear is a Professor Emeritus from the College of Nursing, MUSC. She received her bachelor of science degree from the University of California at Berkeley, a master of science in Maternal-Child Health from Wayne State University, certification in Nurse-Midwifery from the Catholic Maternity Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and a doctorate from the University of Texas. Dr Bear is a Certified Nurse-Midwife, a member of Sigma Theta Tau, Phi Kappa Phi, a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and a charter Fellow of the American College of Nurse-Midwives. She is a past President of the American College of Nurse-Midwives and is the first nurse to have served as President of the MUSC Waring Library Society.

Dr Bear came to the College of Nursing in 1987 to establish a graduate program in nurse-midwifery. She had previously served as director nurse-midwifery at the University of Kentucky and is an avid Wildcat basketball fan. She "retired" in 1998.

Dr Bear is an oral historian and has completed many oral histories of nurse-midwives and others who have had a major influence on the specialty and on nursing. Dr Bear is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences on Nurse-Midwifery and has served on the Council of the International Confederation of Midwives. She is active in the ACNM as a site visitor for the Division of Accreditation and serves as a consultant to several nurse-Midwifery programs across the country. At the present time, Dr Bear teaches in the MUSC Presidential Scholars Program and is a member of the steering Committee for the MUSC Association of Retired Faculty.

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