Mary E. Hermiz

Mary E. Hermiz, RN, MSN, EdD, decided she wanted to be a nurse from the age of four after hearing a nurse speak at her father’s church. In 1968, she graduated from a Bible College in Circleville, OH. In 1971, she received a diploma in nursing from Alton Memorial School of Nursing in Alton, IL. In 1971-72, Mary graduated from University of Evansville with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and in 1974, she received diplomas as a Family Nurse Practitioner and Midwifery from Frontier Nursing Service, Hyden, KY. From 1974 to 1983, she served as a missionary nurse in a health center in Papua New Guinea in the Southern Highlands; while serving there, she oversaw the work in three health centers. From 1983 to 1985, Mary returned to the U.S. and studied at Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis, IN, and received a Master’s in Nursing with a major in Community Health and did Post Graduate studies in Nursing Education. From 1986 to 2011, God called Mary to Tenwek Hospital in Kenya, Africa. She began Tenwek’s School of Nursing in 1987. To date, the school has graduated over 400 nurses trained in general nursing, midwifery and community health. In 1994, during Mary’s furlough, she began working on a doctorate in adult education, and in 2000, Mary took a 2 year furlough and completed a doctorate at Ball State University, Munce, IN. Her dissertation involved finding ways to teach critical thinking to student nurses in clinical settings. Since retirement in 2012, Mary has been active in various ministries such as developing children’s materials about missions for her denomination, developing a manual to help nurses know where they are needed in mission health facilities around the world, and working with an organization that helps connect individuals to restricted areas. Mary is a Missionary Emeritus with World Gospel Mission.