From first generation college student to clinical assistant professor emerita
Clinical Assistant Professor Emerita Dr. Marsha Hughes-Gay retired from the Indiana University School of Nursing during the 2024-25 academic year after a distinguished career spanning 23 years of service to IU.
Looking back at her time at IU, you get the feeling that nursing – and the many mentors who inspired Marsha over the past two decades – found her as much as she found them.
Lightning Strikes
Marsha was born in a suburb of Cleveland, moving to Indiana in 1976. Her dad was a bricklayer and her mom a bookkeeper. No one in Marsha’s family had ever gone to college and, says Marsha, “I didn’t even know the process.” Then lightning struck.
Marsha was a single mom with two children under the age of three when an ad in the local paper caught her eye: the town hospital was going to train a phlebotomist. Marsha applied and discovered the first of her many mentors: her former 4-H leader worked at the hospital and recommended Marsha for the job. Once hired, Marsha worked in the local hospital, engaging with the hospital’s nurses. Inspired by them, Marsha realized she wanted a career in nursing.
Without even taking the SAT or having filled out a single application, Marsha drove to IU Kokomo, walked up to the admissions desk, and said: “I’d like to enroll in nursing classes!” A caring IU Kokomo advisor (another mentor) helped Marsha fill out her application – using paper and pen – and two instructors helped her secure a scholarship.
“I had some great instructors and mentors over the years who really inspired me,” says Marsha. “They showed me great kindness when they learned I was a single mom, working full-time and going to school full-time. When my mom was having heart surgery at Methodist and I was in clinical, I was sent home to be with my mom. (Thank you, Bridgette Whitmore at IU Kokomo!)”
Accomplishments and Accolades
Fast forward to 2025 – and then take a look back at Marsha’s career – and you’ll discover that first-generation college student Marsha Hughes-Gay now holds a BSN in Nursing, an MS in Nursing Community Health, an MS in Public Health, and a PhD in Nursing – all from Indiana University. She began her career at IU at the School of Medicine in 2001, transitioned to the School of Nursing at IU Columbus in 2011, and then transferred to IU Bloomington in 2016.
Among her many accolades, Marsha was a member of the Indiana University Institutional Review Board for the Bloomington campus from 2016 to 2022; was the School of Nursing in Bloomington’s assistant dean from June 2020 to June 2022; received the IU School of Nursing Core Values Award in 2022; and was elected as the IU School of Nursing Faculty Governance President for campuses in Bloomington, Fort Wayne, and Indianapolis for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Marsha has taught many courses in the nursing school’s baccalaureate program. For the past two years, she has been the Bloomington campus NCLEX Navigator, helping our graduating seniors prepare for the nursing licensing exam and achieving a near 100% pass rate among our students. “But I think the most prestigious moments for me,” says Marsha, “were the two times that I was asked by our seniors to be one of the commencement speakers at their May graduation ceremonies.”
Care-givers and Care-abouters
Marsha has had an immense impact on our students, our school, and the Bloomington community. In teaching our students, Marsha was eager to help them develop the technical skills and mindset they need to be successful in the nursing profession, often telling our students they needed to be both “care-givers” and “care-abouters”. She is especially loved by our students because of the concern she shows for them while they are in school and after they graduate.
“I really love it when I go to a hospital in the area and see a former student of mine at work,” says Marsha. “I've run into former students at county fairs, stores, and even parking garages. I also love to see when students are touting their accomplishments on LinkedIn and, yes, I've even seen a few on TikTok!”
Although officially retired from IU, Marsha currently serves as a clinical adjunct for the IU School of Nursing. She’ll also spend a few days each month volunteering at her local library and, this summer, will volunteer to work at a local, low-cost clinic.
Marsha and husband Dave own a travel trailer and look forward to “camping whenever we can.” And, of course, Marsha will continue to enjoy the best part of her retirement years – being mom and grandmom to her two adult daughters and two grandchildren. “I’m not sure if nurses ever really retire,” she says.
“Marsha was an extremely experienced and knowledgeable educator,” says IU School of Nursing Visiting Lecturer Amanda Brashear. “If students had a question, she had an answer. Her students would describe her as expert, caring, and down-to-earth. Marsha once said to me: ‘We have such a short time with them (students). Do you ever worry if you have taught them enough?’”
In your time here at IU, you did far more than “enough,” Marsha. And thank you.
