Imogene M. King Papers

Dr. Imogene M. King (1923-2007), RN, EdD, FAAN, was a professor of Nursing at the University of South Florida from 1980-1990, where she concluded her academic career as a professor emerita. Previously, King held appointments at Loyola University, Chicago (1961-66 and 1972-1980), and the Ohio State University, Columbus (1968-1972). She began her teaching career at St. John’s Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri (1948-1958), immediately following the award of her B.S.N.E. at St. Louis University. King was active in many professional nursing organizations, especially the Florida and American Nurses’ Associations and the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society, and over her career led numerous academic committees and public policy initiatives relative to nursing research and healthcare. She became an ANA Hall of Fame member in 2004, and was named an ANA Living Legend in 2005.

King is best known for her writing and advocacy for nursing theory, and was instrumental in developing this field of scholarly inquiry and its practical application. A number of her multitudinous publications are considered major academic contributions: A Theory for Nursing: systems, concepts, process (1981), Curriculum and Instruction in Nursing (1986), “King’s Theory of Goal Attainment” Nursing Science Quarterly 5 (January 1992) 1: 19-26 (and later revisions), and Interacting System Framework (1997). King earned her Ed.D. in 1961 from the Teachers College of Columbia University; an M.S.N (1957) and BSNE (1948) from the St. Louis University School of Nursing and Allied Health; and the diploma in Nursing from the St. John’s Hospital School of Nursing, in St. Louis (1945).