Deitra Leonard Lowdermilk

Dr. Deitra Leonard Lowdermilk, FAAN, RNC, Ph.D., is the Clinical Professor Emerita at the School of Nursing, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). She received her BSN from East Carolina University and her MEd and Ph.D. in Education from UNC-CH. Lowdermilk is certified in In-Patient Obstetrics by the National Certification Corporation.

Deitra is also a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. She has repeatedly been selected as Classroom and Clinical Teacher of the Year by graduating seniors. In addition to being a nurse educator for over 34 years, she has clinical experience as a public health nurse and as a staff nurse in labor and delivery, postpartum, and newborn units, and has worked in gynecologic surgery and cancer care units. She was a recipient of the Educator of the Year Award from both the District IV Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) and the North Carolina Nurses Association. She also received the 2005 AWHONN Excellence in Education Award.

Dr. Lowdermilk is also the co-author of Maternal Child Nursing Care (5th edition) and Maternity Nursing (8th edition). Her most significant contribution to nursing has been to promote excellence in nursing practice and education in women’s health through the integration of knowledge into practice.

In fall 2010, the East Carolina University College of Nursing named the Neonatal Intensive Care and Midwifery Laboratory in honor of Professor Deitra. In 2011 she was named one of the first 40 nurses inducted into the College of Nursing Hall of Fame.