Longtime patrons help fund new professor

(School of Nursing, March 2016)

Now is a transitional time for many in higher education. At the University of Washington, colleges and schools are facing a faculty on the verge of retirement and a directive to recruit newer, younger faculty. In the School of Nursing, more than 40 percent of our faculty are at or near retirement age.

Thanks to longtime benefactors Eli and Rebecca Almo, the UW School of Nursing was able to recruit a brand new faculty and get a jump start on the campuswide campaign priorities. In September, 2015, Assistant Professor Oleg Zaslavsky joined the School in the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems.

The Almos’ commitment to bringing Zaslavky to Seattle began several years ago, when the late Rheba de Tornyay was mentoring him as a doctoral student. As a Fulbright Scholar, Zaslavky’s commitment to healthy aging earned him an excellent reputation among the UW School of Nursing’s many aging experts.

“We have partnered with the UW School of Nursing for more than two decades and watched their commitment to research and science of healthy aging grow,” Almo said. “We knew that Dr. Zaslavsky’s research would complement the research already occurring, and that his worldview and experience would bring a fresh voice for teaching and mentoring to the school.”

Zaslavsky’s scholarship focuses on prevention and improving clinical outcomes in older persons with frailty. He is the newest member of the de Tornyay Center.

“My hope is to promote functional independence so that people can enjoy their lives to the fullest extent as they age,” Zaslavsky said. “Joining the University of Washington School of Nursing and deTornyay Center for Healthy Aging is a dream come true for me. The intellectual community here has been stimulating my research on aging for many years and now I am thrilled to become a part of this extraordinary interdisciplinary group.”

“I am incredibly grateful to the Almos for making my transition to the UW possible,” he said.