Rhetaugh Graves Dumas

Rhetaugh Etheldra Graves Dumas (1928–2007) was an American nurse, professor, and health administrator. Dumas was the first Black woman to serve as a dean at the University of Michigan. She served as the dean of the University of Michigan Nursing School. She also served as deputy director of the National Institute of Mental Health, becoming the first nurse, female, or African-American to hold that position. She is said to have been the first nurse to use the scientific method to conduct experiments that evaluated nursing practices.

Dumas died on July 22, 2007, of ovarian cancer.

Early life Rhetaugh Etheldra Graves was born in Natchez, Mississippi. Dumas' mother wanted to become a nurse, but no local nursing schools admitted African-American students at the time and her family could not afford to send her to college further away.

When Dumas spoke at the Columbia University 2003 commencement for health sciences graduates, she said "From infancy, I was told that when I grew up, I was going to be a nurse, not just an ordinary nurse, mind you, but one who would be admired by people all around the country -- not only for her personal achievements, but more importantly, for her contributions toward improving the welfare of others." Following graduation, she took her first jobs as a substitute teacher in Natchez Between 1979 and 1981, she was the first nurse, female, or African-American to serve as the deputy director of the NIMH. Dumas received honorary doctorates from the University of Cincinnati, University of San Diego, Yale University and Dillard University. She gave the keynote address at the 1998 conference of the American Association for the History of Nursing in Mississippi.

Her published work includes "The Effect of Nursing Care on Postoperative Vomiting" and "Dilemmas of Black Females in Leadership."

Dumas died of cancer in a Houston hospice on July 22, 2007.

Legacy The University of Michigan Academic Women's Caucus issues the Rhetaugh G. Dumas Progress in Diversifying Award for "notable progress by academic units in achieving concurrent ethnic/racial and gender diversity in the faculty." Michigan and Yale have both established endowed chairs in their nursing schools in her name.