Platinum Sponsorship — from Rustum & Della Roy — Honors Nurse & Midwifery Pioneer

Throughout 2008 and 2009, two world-reknown scientists Professor Rustum and Della Roy supported the Nightingale Declaration Campaign by dedicating their Platinum-level contribution to the memory of their sister, called the 'Indian NIghtingale' Asoka Roy, a pioneering nurse and midwifery educator, first in India and later, in the United States. In their joint statement to remember Asoka, the Roys noted that "nurses are the most important component in the healing systems throughout the world."

Professor Rustum Roy 1924-2010	Professor Della Roy

Professor Rustum Roy was one of the world’s leading materials scientists, honoured by election to the U.S National Academy and later to the National Academies of Japan, Sweden, India and Russia. He was the Evan Pugh Professor of the Solid State Emeritus and Professor of Science Technology and Society Emeritus at the Pennsylvania State University.

Professor Della Roy is now Professor Emerita of Materials Science and Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University.

Their full statement of support to the Nightingale Declaration Campaign (NDC) says: "Everyone who has been in a hospital knows that 99 per cent of the touching that a patient receives is from the nurse. Everyone knows that 90 per cent of the  comforting talk that a patient receives is from the nurse.

"Outside the operating room, nearly as large a percentage of actual administration of healing vectors is done by the nursing or technician staff. It is therefore hardly an exaggeration to claim that in the healing system today in the U.S. and probably the world, the nurses are the most important human component of the system.
 
"But it goes further than that, among the necessary attributes for imparting healing, detailed knowledge of the science and the causes of disease is a minor component. Even exquisite surgical skill , immensely valuable though it is , and necessary though it may be in some cases, is not the most valuable attribute in a healer when we consider the masses of humans in need. For them it is transcendent and a spiritual dimension.

"In Whole Person Healing of the body-mind and spirit, via body, mind or spirit, it is hardly therefore a surprise that the Nurse plays such a key role in human healing, not just the healthcare system."

The late Professor Rustum Roy could not be described by any professional label. He was — at once — a distinguished scientist, a social activist, a societal reformer and a champion of whole person healing.

During the last years of his life, Professor Rustum Roy chaired “Friends of Health”, which deals with ancestral healing practices and partners with other groups in four unique projects: helping to bring the varied institutions of WPH together; bridging the WPH community to that of large numbers of mainstream high-level science; educating the mainstream citizen community through regular undergraduate courses; and creating local Circles for Health. .

Described by Newsweek as “the leading contrarian” among U.S. scientists, Rustum Roy was, in his time, the only practicing prominent American scientist,  who has studied and written critically about U.S. science policy from the inside. His views on U.S. policy, regarded as far out a decade ago, are now called “prescient". He was the most effective champion of interdisciplinarity and integrative learning in the USA.

In the field of material science, Professor Della Roy has authored textbooks, over 433 publications, plus papers presented orally; edited  9 books, numerous book chapters, some 55 major reports to government agencies, and 4 patents.

Professor Della Roy has received numerous honours and awards in her field. In 1987, she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) as the first woman Materials Scientist. The president of the NAE dubbed the husband and wife team as "The First Family of American Engineering."

Her other honours and awards include: Elected Member, National Academy of Engineering (1987); Honorary Fellow, Institute of Concrete Technology, U.K. (1987); Elected member, (International) Academy of Ceramics (1991); Copeland Award, American Ceramic Society (1987); Jeppson Medal, American Ceramic Society (1982); Sir Frederick Lea Memorial Lecture (1987); Bleininger Award, American Ceramic Society (2004).

In memory of their sister Asoka, Professors Rustum and Della Roy are PLATINUM sponsors of the Nightingale Initiative for Global Health.