Our History With Healthcare
In its second century, the College of St. Catherine continues to build on a tradition of excellence in healthcare education rooted in the liberal arts, Catholic social teaching and the 150-year tradition in healthcare of the Sisters of St. Joseph.
1853: The College’s founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, convert their log cabin schoolhouse into a hospital to treat victims of a cholera epidemic.
1887: The Sisters respond to a need for trained nurses in the region, founding the St. Mary’s School of Nursing.
1905: The Sisters establish the College of St. Catherine and affirm the importance of math and science to a liberal arts education by including classes in chemistry, mathematics and botany in its curriculum.
1916: The North Central Association of Colleges accredits St. Kate’s. The college also joins 14 other institutions such as Oberlin College, Kenyon College, Bates College and the University of Chicago as charter members of the Mathematical Association of America.
1929: To date, the College has received $500,000 of support from the Rockefeller Foundation, including $300,000 to develop healthcare programs. St. Kate’s uses this award to build Fontbonne Hall, which houses nursing programs.
1942–48: During World War II, the College responds to a critical nursing shortage by expanding its programs to include a baccalaureate degree in nursing, assuming leadership of the St. Joseph’s and St. Mary’s hospitals schools of nursing and partnering with the U.S. Cadet Nursing Corps to provide students with financial assistance in exchange for nursing services. More than 170 alumnae serve in military hospitals.
1945–47: The College develops an Occupational Therapy Program at the baccalaureate level and prepares for AMA accreditation with the help of Dr. Joseph Ryan of the Manhattan Project.
1964: The College opens an Occupational Therapy Assistant Program, the first two-year program in the country.
1969: The College establishes the nation’s first Physical Therapy Assistant program predicated on the belief that effective healthcare practice requires a strong foundation in the liberal arts and sciences as well as professional training.
1974: St. Kate’s opens the Office of Continuing Education and begins formally offering continuing education credits in nursing.
1984: Eight years before the National Institutes of Health establishes an office to study complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), St. Kate’s creates the Holistic Health Studies program.
1990: The College collaborates with Fairview Health Services to establish a healthcare ethics program aimed at ensuring a Catholic, professional presence in the healthcare arena.
1996: The Minneapolis campus of St. Kate’s joins forces with United Hospital in St. Paul to offer its certificate programs in Holistic Health to hospital staff — helping to bridge the gap between clinical practice and patient care.
2000: The College establishes the Centers of Excellence to engage students in interdisciplinary collaborations with faculty and community partners, including action-research at the North Point Health and Wellness Center in Minneapolis that contributes to healthcare policy debates.
2004: The College begins offering one of the nation’s first Master of Arts in Holistic Health.
2006: St. Kate’s commitment to education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics is recognized with grants from the National Science Foundation, 3M, Cargill and the Clare Booth Luce Foundation, among others. Recent awards include a nearly $500,000 grant to provide scholarships to and enhance programs for women entering the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.